Geminae Aenigmatis
by Pulchra Rosa
Summary: Sealed in a magical Puzzle for 3000 years after saving the world from destruction, a nameless Pharaoh awaits. Can this trapped soul be saved and what will happen once the spirit is released from the cage? An alternative telling of Yu-Gi-Oh with a female Yami, but male Yugi. Also there is reincarnation thrown in there. Characters may be a bit OOC.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is my first fanfic since I usually write my own personal stories but I had this idea that was begging to be written out. This story is going to be a mix of the anime and manga and will be using the Japanese names. So, please, constructive criticism is welcome.  
(Atem and 'Yami' are two different beings in this story for specific reasons, so if you are strongly against this idea then please don't bother reading)_

 _ **Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm just a fan with an immense imagination._

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _The Pharaoh's POV (1960, Valley of the Kings)_

3000 years. It has been 3000 years and I still stand ever vigilant over my own tomb protecting it and all that lies inside from any who wish to wrongly steal from it. I've never been much of a fighter, so for the most part I leave the duty of warning away intruders to the traps that were set up within. Only when one ventures too far, too close to what I wish to protect the most, do I ever intervene. I made a promise to myself and my family to never let anyone get their hands on it and I will uphold that promise even if it means to act against my nature to protect it. The Millennium Puzzle.

A treasure worth more than the gold it was seemingly made of, the Millennium Puzzle held magic, strong and dark, which in the wrong hands could result in the doom of the world. But that is not all that it held, for it contained something far more precious to me, so much so that I was willing to do anything to keep the Puzzle safe. My beloved sister. My first friend and confidante. The one person in the world who I looked up to the most and would always fiercely protect. I loved her so much that I had even sacrificed my own life so that she may live. And with my death came her rise to the throne. However, evils still plagued the lands of Kemet and not long after my own sacrifice, my beloved sister sealed herself and the threatening wicked creature in the prison of the Puzzle to save our kingdom and its people. Many vowed to keep the Puzzle protected and had set up the most intricate traps of that time to prevent grave-robbers from ever accidentally unleashing that malignant being on the world again. I made my own promise to my sister that I would keep her safe and if there was ever a way to set her free and defeat the evil creature that caused all this strife, I would do whatever was necessary.

Little did I know as I was patrolling the outskirts of my tomb one day, that my prayers would finally be answered. I was doing my usual sweep of the outside when I spotted three figures headed in my direction, towards my tomb. _Tomb raiders! Do they never learn?!_ I thought to myself. Nonetheless, I prepared for the inevitable confrontation. Disappearing to within my tomb, I waited, ready to intervene if necessary. Not long after, lit torches began to illuminate the surroundings as the infiltrators entered. The foremost one was rather short and wore dark attire that was not the usual for the typical bandit but other than that I could not distinguish much of his features as he wore some type of head-wear, with only a bit of his dark hair wildly jutting out from underneath, and his face was cast in the shadows created by the torch he held. His companions looked more like the typical thieves that had visited this tomb in the past, with their bronze complexion, dark hair, and ragged robes, eyes glinting with both fear and greed. _Time for the game to begin._

As expected the two common bandits raced ahead at the sight of jewels that glimmered in the dim light. _This will be too easy, it seems._ I chuckled while turning away to avoid seeing the expectant deaths or harm, but the laugh died in my throat when the apparent leader of this incursion did the unexpected. He didn't run forward like the others; he stopped them and, by flicking the small item he had seemed to be chewing on towards the center of the room, revealed the trap that had been lying in wait. His action resulting in the deadly twin spikes that shot from the snake statues mouths to only pierce the air. I could only stare baffled as the trap that had fell many before was quickly and expertly exposed. _Intriguing. I shall have to keep a close eye on this one._ I followed the intruders from the shadows in order to see if they had the wits to solve the rest of the traps and puzzles, though I wasn't exactly comfortable with my part in this if they did manage to outwit the traps. I had only had to act once before and I nearly scared the man to death, so I did not wish a repeat of the experience.

In the next chamber, the group came to a wall and the leader, shocking me once again, revealed the hidden warning and read it as if it was his native tongue. I knew this was odd because over the years, watching from the confines of the afterlife, I have seen the decline in the usage of my language to the point where people could now only make educated speculations about our texts. _Who is the stranger? Something about him is familiar, but what?!_ Watching more intently I tried to discern anything else about the short man, but from my angle I still could not detect anything else other than his pale complexion which is foreign to these lands. Ghosting into the next room, I positioned myself on the opposite side of the room so that if this man managed to pass this trap I would then be able to clearly see his features. They appeared soon after and, while the leader looked ahead at the upcoming maze, the two common thieves seemed to be arguing with one another until one pulled out an object of silver. _If memory serves me correct about the advancements in human weaponry, then this must be a gun._ I narrowed my eyes. I did not particularly like violence but this brand of hostility seemed intolerable if this man planned to utilize the weapon against his cohorts. I then decided that I could contain my curiosity no longer (especially considering the new circumstances and the expressions of the two common thieves which made me nervous for the leader's fate) and ghosted over to take a closer look at the intriguing man's features.

 _NO! It can't be!_ Standing there was someone that could've been the double of a person I had known from when I was still alive, albeit he appeared younger than the man I knew. Siamon had been the royal vizier and a previous wielder of the Millennium Key, a sister object to the Puzzle that I protect which allowed the user access to a person mind, but he had died in the battle against the evil being that my sister entrapped so this couldn't have been him. Yet here this man stood, with violet eyes and golden bangs so similar to my own, defying my logic by appearing as an almost exact replica of Siamon.

* _CLICK*_

The sound broke me from my racing thoughts as I saw that the two regular bandits had shifted closer and one of them had unknowingly stepped on the trap that would force the three into the maze or face the incoming spikes behind them. Quickly, Siamon's double raced blindly into the maze like many before him to escape the dreaded spikes. Too bad there was more to this maze than meets the eye. Believing the fear would overwhelm them and either the wall or the enchanted statues would be the end of them, I turned away so that I would not have to witness the gruesome fate of the men and drifted back to the door to the next chamber. I felt a bit sorry for them, especially Siamon's replica, but the traps could not be stopped once set in motion. I had almost retreated into the next room when I heard Siamon's twin shout to his compatriots not in fear or pain but in a knowledgeable warning tone. Confused I spun back around to see the three men inch around the maze in the appropriate fashion of respect for a Pharaoh, effectively avoiding the deadly blades that would only react if one didn't act in a fitting manner. Siamon's double and one of the thieves made it across when the panic set in on the other and he made a grave misstep. Grimacing, I turned away before the blades of the nearest statue embedded into the man. Looking down on the two surviving members of this party, I saw the common bandit raise the gun threateningly in the face of Siamon's replica. I had to give the man credit as he did not so much as flinch in the face of the weapon waved so dangerously close to him.

 _Could this be a sign from the Gods? Could this man be the answer to my prayers? Is it finally time for my sister to be free and finally vanquish that evil from so long ago?_ Whether this was a sign or not, I knew that the next and final chamber would reveal all about the hearts of the men traversing this tomb and whether or not they were truly worthy, so I silently followed them as they made their way in. The gun-wielder forced Siamon's double across the Ka bridge while he waited in the safety of the edges of the room. I watched as Siamon's twin cautiously crossed the bridge and secretly hoped that he would be judged worthy. He was almost across the bridge when…

* _BANG!*_

I saw Siamon's replica shudder and fall, barely grasping the edge of the bridge before he fell into the abyss. Turning, I saw smoke coming out of the gun that the other man had so obviously just fired. Fiery anger coated my eyes but I nevertheless turned away so as to not witness the man receive the punishment that I knew he aptly brought upon himself as he cockily strode across the bridge. I couldn't however block the screams and I knew those would haunt me for years to come. After the screams ended I chanced a glance at the remaining man and saw that he was still hanging precariously from the edge of the bridge. Without thinking, I appeared in a semi-physical form before the wounded man dangling for dear life and offered him my assistance. He looked at me with complete bewilderment before he fainted. Quickly I grasped his hand before he fell and pulled him back onto the bridge. It was a bit of a struggle but I somehow managed. I looked at the wound inflicted by the other man and, using what little magic that I could, I healed it to the best of my ability. _There. He won't die from the wound but he will still need to see a healer once he awakens._ Looking to the box that sat on the one end of the room I prayed that I did not just make a grave error.

When the man started to stir, I let myself be enveloped by the shadows once more. He struggled and glanced around in disbelief, probably wondering how he had managed to survive. After a few moments, he seemed to shrug it off and hobbled over to the pedestal with the Millennium Puzzle situated upon it. I kept a close on him, examining his expression to see if there was any indication of malice or greed when he beheld the Puzzle. I would not like having to enact a punishment on him after all that he has gone through. However, the only emotions that tinged his eyes were amusement, wonder, and strangely a fierce protectiveness as he stared at the golden pieces, and, although it went against my eternal vow, I let the man walk out with the single most important treasure of my tomb. I then faded to the afterlife with a growing inkling of a plan in mind and one last forlorn thought. _Forgive me, sister._

* * *

 _(Afterlife)_

"Prince!" a voice called out moments before a solid form crashed into me, almost knocking me to the ground.

"Mana! It's good to see you too." I smiled at the girl magician with the wild brunette locks and blue eyes as deep and clear as the Nile embracing me tightly as I hugged her back. Mana had been my dearest childhood friend when I had been alive and despite protocol would constantly hug me and call me 'Prince' even after I became Pharaoh. I even had developed some deeper feelings for her but with the laws of Kemet being as they were, I was required to wed my sister to produce an heir and Mana was forced to remain chaste so as to not distract her from her duties. Nonetheless, we remained the deepest of friends and she even became somewhat of a substitute mother to my son after my sister's sacrifice.

Pulling back, Mana put her hands on her hips and gave me her best glare. "What are you doing here Prince? Not that I don't miss you and like seeing you buuuuut…I thought you dedicated yourself to forever protecting your sister from thieves, so why aren't you there now?" She was slightly shorter than me, especially when I stood to my full height, but she had a way of emitting a sort of dominance even over me.

In a bit of a nervous habit, I scratched the back of my head and tried to shrink away from her glare. Then, as if hearing my sister's voice in my head reminding me of my status, I forced myself to stand firm and look back into Mana's eyes. "Something happened Mana. I can't explain it now but would you please gather all the priests of the Sacred Court as well as Ptahmose? I have a need to speak with all of you and it concerns my sister and the Millennium Puzzle."

"Of course, Prince," Mana replied, giving me a confused look before rushing off to do the task I had asked of her. Turning in the opposite direction, I headed towards my father's chambers as I felt I needed to discuss the matter with him first before facing the Court with my possibly outrageous idea. Soon I was in front of the doors leading into my father's rooms and then I took a deep breath before I knocked, waiting patiently for his response.

"Enter," a deep voice on the other side stated and I did as commanded, hoping that my father's vast wisdom would help guide me.

* * *

"You did WHAT?!"

Looking calmly at the blue-eyed man, who had once been a High-Priest during my reign and had risen to the rank of Pharaoh after my sister's sacrifice due to him being our cousin, I answered simply, "I let the Millennium Puzzle be taken." I knew this was enraging him knowing that I had in every sense broken my vow to protect my sister, but he and the rest of the court must understand my reasoning. But before I could so much as input even a word of my explanation, Seto was off on a tirade about my ineptitude for such a task and how the job should have gone to someone more willing to undertake all the responsibilities required of such a monumental task. Sighing, I patiently waited for him to finish his piece as I knew that I would never be able to get a word in until he was finished. Luckily, I did not have to wait long since another High-Priest was more curious in understanding my reasoning than in criticizing it or myself. And braver at that too for willingly facing the blazing fire that is Seto himself.

"Pharaoh Seto, that is quite enough! He is still Pharaoh, and one of your predecessors at that, which means you ought to show him the proper respect and let him explain himself. I for one, although I do agree that this choice does seem naïve, would like to know why our Pharaoh thought it best to let the Millennium Puzzle be taken at all. Forgive me for being rude and outspoken but I believe that in this instance it should be overlooked."

"Thank you, Mahado and you are forgiven." I smiled at the man who forfeited his life to fuse with his Ka to better serve my sister in her quest against the great evil that they had faced. "And Seto should not find fault either in my judgement," directing this last statement to the man in question. Mahado in turn nodded while Seto's face went a bright shade of red as he held in his anger at being silenced. However, a pale hand reached out and touched his own sun-kissed one and soon the color of his face returned to normal as he relaxed under the calming presence the hand represented, but he continued to glare at Mahado which was equally returned by the mage. Although I hadn't expressly invited her, I was glad Kisara had come and sent a smile in thanks to the white-haired girl who at one time had been one of my sister's closest friends. She bowed her head demurely in turn, a faint smile gracing her lips lighting up her bright cerulean eyes.

"Well, this is getting boring! Prince, can you _please_ explain to all of us why you did what you did, especially before Seto here explodes despite Kisara's reassurances or Master does something stupid to really set Seto off?"

"MANA!" Mahado reprimanded his former student, tearing his charcoal eyes off the other brunette man to look at her. Seto also shifted his icy glare from the master to the apprentice. The girl ignored both men and stared at the former Pharaoh whom she had posed her question to.

"I was getting to that point when I had unfortunately been interrupted. Yes, I did let the Millennium Puzzle be taken but for a good reason. Before I tell you this reason, I have to ask: Have any of you have seen Siamon recently?" I scanned the faces of the three women and five men in attendance, all friends and family.

Looking into all their predictable blank looks and eventual shakes of their heads in denial, I continued, "The reason none of you have seen Siamon recently is because he left himself be reincarnated." A chorus of 'What!'s rang about the room as I let that news sink in before continuing my explanation. "Yes, Siamon seems to have been reincarnated, as confirmed by my father, and it was his reincarnation that I let take the Puzzle. Now I know that sooner or later my sister will eventually be released once the Puzzle is solved but I believe that if all of you are open to my plan, then we can assist her in the oncoming battle." All but one eagerly nodded in agreement. "Ptahmose? Son, what is troubling you?"

"I just worry for Mother, Father, especially because of her memory loss. What if even with all of our aid, she is not able to conquer the evil?" the young man with ebony hair (surprisingly normal compared to his mother's and my own tri-colored locks, especially since it did not spike out unnaturally but laid relatively flat) said with tears held behind violet-red eyes, a perfect mixture of his mother's and mine. "Even though I was too young to remember her, I still know the feeling of losing my mother and I don't wish to relive it." My heart nearly broke at these words, as I too knew the feeling of losing a parent at such a tender age. The difference between us though was that I had only lost my mother, while my son, in a span of only a couple of years, had lost both of his parents.

Both Seto and Mana reached over and offered their consolations to the young man, having both taken on the parental roles for the boy when they all had been alive. I was practically a stranger to my own son, dying when he was a mere babe and then having spent most of my eternal afterlife protecting his mother from tomb-raiders. Any time I _did_ spend trying to bond with him did not progress far so our relationship was strained leaving me at a loss on how to properly console my own son. Father said that Mother feels the same way when interacting with me, but she always made sure to never show it to anybody lest she seem weak. Thinking about her, I remember first meeting her. It was a shock to finally realize where my sister and I inherited some of our odd features. Her unusual blonde tresses and purple eyes had mixed with our father's own raven locks and brown eyes to beget two children, one with eyes of crimson and the other matching his mother's amethyst irises, both with hair of gold, black, and mauve. It still is a mystery to us where the third color came in, but it was assumed that it was a part of the Gods' blessing on our family. Aside from her appearance, she was interesting to me in that she reminded me so much of my sister with her strong and courageous outlook on life.

Glancing again at Ptahmose, I knew I had to give my mother credit for her resolve since I still struggle to reign in my feelings of regret when faced with situations such as these. Nevertheless, I knew I had to steel myself against the unwanted feelings if there was to be any hope in succeeding in this risky plot, so, addressing all in attendance but keeping my eyes on Ptahmose, I said, "We must have faith in your mother and in the Gods' divine will. As long as we have that faith the great evil stands no chance. As such I have a plan that if deemed worthy of the Gods should result in our victory." From Mana to Mahado, Seto to Kisara, Isis to Shada to Kalim, and finally Ptahmose; I knew that I could not trust anyone more than these souls with this dangerous mission I had in mind.

Ptahmose finally nodded and then everyone looked at me anxiously awaiting to hear the plan I had. At the time, I did not know if the Gods would agree, but it was my only hope. As luck would have it, the Gods would more than agree to it and even add their own conditions to the idea to further ensure our success. But I did not know this as I started with my explanation to the gathered group at hand, "Right then, here is my plan…"

* * *

 _AN: So...was this good or bad? Should I continue or just drop it completely? Please review! I would love to know what you all think._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Well, I haven't gotten any indication to **not** continue this, so here's the next chapter. I do want to thank all those that have supported this story however, in whatever form, whether it be following, favoriting, reviewing, or just in spirit. I will **try** to update more often but I can't make any promises.  
(As for any weird plot devices, such as Atem's name not being directly mentioned last chapter, there is a perfect reason for this and it will be explained in time.) Now let's get on to Yugi and the gang. More AN at the end.  
_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _Have I suddenly gotten ownership of Yu-gi-oh? Let me check...nope, it still belongs to Takahashi Kazuki._

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _Yugi's POV (Present-day-'ish', Domino City)_

 _A seven goes here which means that a nine goes there…_ (*RING*) _and complete. And just as the bell rang for recess._ As the teacher had been lecturing the class, I had gotten bored and had pulled out a Butterfly Sudoku Samurai puzzle (1) that I had gotten just yesterday, solving it easily in the span of one class session. _I guess I'm going to have to get something more complicated tomorrow._ I would have rather played some other game but I didn't want to risk whatever game I pulled out to be confiscated and with a sudoku puzzle it would look like I was taking notes. I know I _should_ be paying more attention to my classes, as my grades are far from the best, but how can I focus on topics that are not stimulating in the least to me? Thankfully, I still manage to pass my classes because of my grandfather and my only friend, Anzu, who both know how to make the information in these dull lectures sound exciting and like the games that I adore.

"Hey, Yugi!" I looked up from my completed puzzle to see one of my fellow classmates with dark hair and eyes, wearing the standard Domino High male uniform of dark blue pants and jacket, holding a basketball in his hand calling to me while the rest of the class filtered out through the door. "Do you want to play some basketball instead of sitting in here all alone?" I don't recall his name, but I do know that he is one of the few who does at least acknowledge my existence in a decent manner, whereas most either tease me or outright ignore me. I'm used to those kinds of interactions though due to the knowledge that I'm abnormally short for my age, not having even reached five foot yet after fifteen years, and still have plenty of baby fat which makes me appear younger than I really am. I also have atypical large, child-like, violet eyes. In addition to my child-like appearance, I have an unusual hair-style that looks like a gravity-defying 7-point midnight star tinted fiery-red on the ends with golden blonde bangs that frame my face. I like my hair, but others seem to find it as a beacon for harassing me.

Giving a sad smile, I tell the boy that I would be of no use to anybody and that I would rather stay inside instead of being a weak link to anyone's team. He shrugs nonchalantly as though he only asked me out of courtesy and follows the rest of the class 1-B students outside. Sighing, I move to put my completed sudoku puzzle away to pull out another game that I have stashed away in my bag. _I wish I could play with the others; I even bring plenty of games so that we all could play but everyone would rather play physical games that I can't participate well enough in. Oh well…_ Looking in my bag at all the games I have hidden away in it, I have spark of enthusiasm as I reach down to reveal a secret space hidden away in the bag lest Chono-sensei brought up a surprise inspection, especially since I most definitely didn't want to lose _this_ particular item. _My most prized possession! Today I will complete it!_ I then set a golden box engraved with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on my desk, the Wadjet eye on one side of the box staring knowingly at my joyful expression.

"There is a riddle associated with my treasure," I whisper to myself, unaware of anyone possibly listening to my spoken thoughts, as I move to lift the lid off the box. "'It can be seen, but you haven't seen it, what is it?'; the answer of course is–" My expression instantly changes from one of joy to horror as I watch my treasure being scooped away from me while cruel laughter echoed in my ears. I glance up to see two of the more prominent students that are known to torment me. Honda Hiroto, with brown eyes and pointed brown hair, holds my box out of reach with a smirk on his face while his buddy Jonouchi Katsuya scrutinizes the box, running a tanned hand through his mop of dark blonde hair while his eyebrows furrow in apparent confusion.

Breaking out of my stupor, I leap out of my seat trying in vain to reclaim my treasure, the two much taller boys laughing at my hopeless attempts, while Honda kept holding it above his head. "Honda-kun, give that back! Please, give it back!"

With a smirk, Honda held my treasure out to me. Although I should have been suspicious based off his expression, all I felt was relief as I went to take it back. But just as my hands were about to grab ahold of the box, he chucked it in the air towards Jonouchi. The two boys then proceeded to fling the box back and forth between themselves, ignoring my ever-increasing cries, while I kept jumping, uselessly trying to catch the box before it could possibly fall to the ground.

When I didn't think I could jump anymore, Jonouchi caught my treasure and began to toss it in his hand, looking down at me as if I was the most pathetic person on the planet. "Why are you acting like such a child about this, Yugi? Do you really think _this_ is that valuable that you have to embarrass yourself like that? Well, you need to cut it out! Your childish antics are really irritating me!" Then, with an evil glint in his dark brown eyes, Jonouchi stopped juggling my puzzle and sneered at me. "If you want this back so badly, then you'll first have to man-up." He then pounded on his chest with the hand not holding my precious treasure. "Give me your best shot! I won't even fight back."

 _Hit him?!_ I couldn't fathom doing the act myself. _Why can't we solve this peacefully without all this unnecessary violence?_ Taking a deep breath, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "BUT I HATE FIGHTING AND VIOLENCE!" The scream forced both boys to cover their ears. Exhausted from yelling so loud and leaping so much, I held out my hand and peacefully asked for them to return my box. As I should've known, the two boys refused and Jonouchi started inspecting the box just out of my reach as if to try to figure out what was inside it. Panicking for the safety of the contents of the box, I pleaded with him, "Y-you can look in it but p-please don't lose any of it! I-it's incredibly valuable to me!" Having been given consent, Jonouchi peeked inside the box but scoffed at the contents and threw the box over his shoulder back to Honda.

I could only watch helplessly as the gold item flew in the air, pleading to whatever entity that exists to not let it drop, only to see the box be plucked mid-air by an outside hand. I sighed in relief as I saw that the hand belonged to none other than Mazaki Anzu, my best and only friend since elementary school. She was clad in the girl's uniform which consisted of a pink jacket with a blue bow-tie and a short blue skirt that revealed her long pale legs. Although the uniform looks atrocious, I think she still manages to pull it off and look cute in it. She had a fun personality, loving to play with me when we were younger even though she wasn't as good at the games that I liked to play, but whenever she saw another person being bullied in any capacity I found out it was never a good idea to be on the receiving end of her ire. Glaring at the two boys who had been pestering me, she said in a harsh voice, "If you think it's so dumb, then you should give it back to Yugi. You shouldn't be picking on someone smaller than you, anyways. Now beat it you two, before I change my mind and teach you a lesson _myself_!"

Jonouchi and Honda didn't waste any time and fled the room like dogs with tails between their legs. With the threat gone, Anzu relaxed and returned the box to me. "Thank you, Anzu," I joyfully said. Anzu had made it clear early in our friendship that she didn't want us to be so formal with each other, so against my polite nature I don't add any honorifics to her name. "You're amazing! How do you always manage to scare off bullies with just a word and a glare?"

Waving off the praise, Anzu said, "It was nothing. I just can't stand people who torment others that they deem weaker than themselves. All the guys in this class are like those two bozos. Always using others for their own amusement. I mean the only reason why the guys let the girls play basketball with them was so that they could take a glance under our skirts whenever we were making a basket." _A peek under a girl's skirt! Possibly Anzu's! Now I kind of wish I had taken up that guy's offer…but at least Anzu is here alone with me!_ I could feel my face grow warm at those thoughts. Although I would never admit aloud, I have had a massive crush on my only friend for years.

Returning to the present, I saw Anzu giving me a weird look and if I wasn't already blushing profusely, my face became even more red. Thankfully she didn't press me on it and instead, with a curious look in her ocean-blue eyes, inquired about the contents of my treasure. _That's right, I've never let her see this before!_

After getting her to promise to keep what she saw secret, I lifted the lid to reveal the inside of the box. Set against the red fabric lining were a bunch of gold pieces. Taking up a few, Anzu marveled at the golden objects and asked what they were. "It's a puzzle! I've been working on it for eight years and I've yet to solve it. I don't know what the finished piece looks like so it is something that you can see but you haven't seen it!" Seeing as how I still had her interest, cerulean eyes widening in awe, I continued, "I live in a game shop, remember, so there's a whole bunch of rare and unusual games in there, especially ones that my grandfather has collected from his many adventures. This one in particular was gathering dust in a back corner of the supply closet, so I decided to try my luck at it. It was found in the tomb of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. I'm not sure what the symbols on the box mean but I can take a guess that they say something along the lines of: 'the person who solves this puzzle will have their wish granted.' I hope I can solve this but being that it's already been eight years, I just worry about if I _can_." All while I was explaining, Anzu just kept staring fascinated, sometimes bobbing her chestnut colored head.

At least until that last line. Hearing my words of slight defeat, she gave me a reproaching look. "If _anyone_ can solve a puzzle as complicated as this, it's _you_ , Yugi," she said encouragingly, making me feel like I was floating on air to hear this praise, _especially_ since it came from Anzu. Then with a wink and a smile she continued, "Sooooo…What would you wish for, Yugi?"

"Nope. That is a secret that I won't tell." I slightly chuckled.

* * *

*RING*

 _FINALLY! School is out! Now I can head home and work on the puzzle again…after homework of course…and so long as Grandpa doesn't need me to help with the shop._

"Hey! You're Mutou Yugi, right?" a voice called out. Turning around I saw a giant of a man, with his thick arms that could pass for tree trunks crossed in front of his chest, staring at me. I sheepishly nod my head as I craned my neck to be able to look into his dark eyes shrouded mainly by his thick, ebony eyebrows. "I'm Ushio, from the Morals Committee. Now I have to ask: have you been bullied by anyone recently?" Scared, I quickly shake my head. I didn't want to be the reason anyone got into trouble. Also, even though most would consider the acts that Jonouchi and Honda committed today was bullying, I knew that deep-down they only had the best intentions. I had realized that the two had wanted to help me get a backbone to be able to stand up for myself, but the way they went about it to teach me this lesson was _probably_ not the best. "Now, now. You don't need to cover for anybody. I will personally investigate this matter. Also, from now on you can consider me your personal bodyguard."

 _BODYGUARD?!_ "Th-thanks f-for the offer Ushio-san, b-but I'm fine. Really. N-no one's b-been bullying m-me," I stuttered. "B-bye!" Then I turned and ran home with only one backwards glance. _That was weird. Hopefully he just drops this whole thing._ Little did I know then that this matter was far from over or that this was only the beginning of a much stranger adventure.

Soon I was in front of the Kame Game Shop, the store that my grandfather ran which also had our living quarters above it, giving the building a turtle-like appearance as the name of the store suggests. For a moment, I just stared at the vibrant letters that adorned the roof of the shop, thinking about the irony of the situation. I loved games and puzzles, so it felt only fitting that I could live in a place that sold so many varieties of what I loved. _It's also a bit ironic that my name means game_. I chuckled at this thought.

The thoughtful moment now over I continued towards my home, but right before my hand touched the handle to the door I heard my name being called for the second time this afternoon. However, instead of a massive behemoth, the voice belonged to the sweet and wonderful Anzu. "It's been a while since I came over to play so I thought I'd come over. Is that ok?" I eagerly nod in response and then hold the door open for her so that we both could enter the shop.

"Welcome to the Kame Game Shop!" is the immediate automatic greeting from my grandfather, Mutou Sugoroku, who could easily be identified as a relative of mine with his equally wild hair held back only by a black bandana, plum-hued eyes, and short stature. He currently was seated behind the counter, wearing his usual green overalls, looking through what appeared to be a magazine. _Please let him not be looking at his porn magazines while working…that certainly can't be good for business._ Finally glancing up from his reading material, the gray-haired man's eyes light up in joy at who stood before him. "Oh, it's just you, Yugi. And you brought Anzu. My, it has been a long time since I've seen you here. And, wow! You surely have grown, in height and especially here." At those last words, he started motioning towards her chest in a way as though he wanted to cup her. _Annnddd, there went any hope that he wouldn't act like his weird perverted self in front of Anzu._ I felt my eyes bulge out in panicked mortification and the blood rush to my face coating my entire visage up to the tips of my ears with the crimson blush. Turning to Anzu, I saw her looked as equally uncomfortable so I hastily started pulling her upstairs towards my room, quickly muttering something about doing homework. However, before we could even manage to reach the stairs, my grandfather spoke up again, "Wait a minute, Yugi. When you say, 'doing homework', I hope you don't mean that you plan on working on that puzzle again. I've told you that thing is beyond human comprehension. And, of course, the history behind it is quite gruesome."

"Gruesome history?" Anzu nervously asked, stopping in her tracks, eyes wide as she glanced back and forth between my grandfather and me.

With a wicked glint in his eye, my grandfather got up from behind the counter, coming around to stand before the both of us to tell his frightening tale. "That Puzzle was found in an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's tomb. Almost all who went into that tomb died cruel and mysterious deaths. One had physically escaped the tomb, but his mind was never the same again. Before he too died, he would constantly scream in terror about a 'Shadow Game'…"

Hearing this tale, Anzu's face paled in absolute fright while mine lit up just thinking about this so called 'Shadow Game' seeing as how I have never heard of it before and I have a love for all things game-related. Fully curious now, I pulled the puzzle out of my bag to admire it and all its newly revealed secrets. Spotting the puzzle in my hands, my grandfather moved to point at the many symbols engraved into the box. "The symbols on the box read, 'To the one who solves me, I will grant dark wisdom and power'." _So my wish_ _ **will**_ _come true!_ I then broke out into a full-blown grin and whooped in glee.

Completely forgetting about the other two in the room (or even the idea of homework), I ran straight to my room to complete the puzzle. It was late in the night when I even remembered other things existed when my grandfather poked his head in my room to tell me to go to bed. _ANZU! I had completely forgotten about her! I hope she made it home safely and forgives me for my stupidity._ Staring at the parts of the puzzle that I had completed, which only seemed to be the framework ( _It looks like it's a pyramid. Figures. It_ _ **is**_ _Egyptian after all.),_ I yawned loudly. Although I didn't want to quit now, I knew that I couldn't do much with a sleep-addled brain, so I resigned myself to going to bed as told. _I guess I won't finish it today._ *YAWN!* _Maybe I can finish it tomorrow…_ These were my last thoughts before I slowly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

I realized the next day the major mistake I made in working on the puzzle so late. I could barely keep my eyes open in any of my classes. Thankfully I wasn't reprimanded by any of my teachers. When recess finally came around, I had a fleeting thought to work on the puzzle again, but then opted to try and catch up on some of the sleep I missed. Hopefully Anzu would be able to wake me up before anything bad happened. I was so grateful this morning when I apologized profusely to Anzu for my behavior last night and she waved it off as inconsequential. "Yugi. I know how much you get excited at the thought of a game and after hearing about how much you have invested in that puzzle, I figured you were entitled to be a _little_ narrow-minded." Then with a slight smirk she had teasingly told me to never do that again to her which I whole-heartedly promised.

"Hey, Yugi-kun!" a familiar voice shouted breaking me out of my light doze. Lifting my head off the desk, I was greeted with the sight of Ushio, who had a mischievous smile adorning his face. "I have a surprise for you. Would you come with me so that I can show it to you?" Although he stated it like a question, something inside me told me that I really had no choice in the matter, so I begrudgingly got up from my seat and proceeded to follow him. I started to get suspicious, however, when he took us to behind the school. _This can't be good._ I wasn't mistaken in my assumptions when I saw two figures ahead of us leaning, looking all bloodied and bruised, against the side of the building. Once closer I could identify that one of the figures was brunet while the other had a mess of dirty-blonde hair.

"JONOUCHI-KUN! HONDA-KUN!" I ran to the two groaning boys, unsure of what I could possibly do to help. Amethyst eyes widened in complete horror, I looked back at Ushio and asked, "W-what…what happened?"

"These two are bullies. And because I'm your personal bodyguard, I had to punish them," The giant laughed, his eyes growing as cold as ice. Even though I had a feeling that reasoning wouldn't affect this unsympathetic brute, I tried anyways, only for the man to laugh harder. Instead of trying to continue that route, I kneeled in front of the two injured teens. Their faces were swollen, blood seeping out of their noses and mouths, their skin looked less tan and started to become increasingly more black and purple as the multitude of bruises began to form. It appeared that Honda had lost consciousness but Jonouchi was still awake and glaring at me with his one eye that wasn't completely sealed shut.

"Fuck you, Yugi," Jonouchi spat at me, his one open mahogany eye hardened in malice. Shocked at the outright unjust vehemence towards me, I started to deny that I had any part in this. However, my denials even sounded weak to my own ears.

Before I could completely explain myself to the one conscious boy in front of me, I was roughly shoved to the side. I felt my limbs scrape across the pavement and I had a feeling that I was probably now bleeding from the newly made cuts. Peering up from my huddled form, I saw Ushio prepare to land another kick into Jonouchi stating that he wasn't finished punishing them. Without even a second thought, I pulled myself up and threw myself in front of the two beaten students, staring at the mammoth-sized man before me. "STOP! I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!" I yelled defiantly. My stunt however only served to amuse Ushio as he began to laugh.

"Really, Yugi-kun? This is your chance to get your revenge on these two that bullied you. Yet, you call them your _friends_? You must have a twisted sense of reality if you believe that the interactions between them and yourself were grounds for friendship."

"They weren't bullying me. They were only trying to help me," I quietly say, my eyes dropping to stare at my feet. I knew that Jonouchi, Honda, and I were far from being considered 'friends' but I also knew that even despite their harsh antics against me, they did not deserve to be hurt this cruelly. This was too much.

"Whatever. Have your delusions. Either way, I'll be taking my bodyguard fee now. 200 thousand Yen." My head whipped up so fast that I could've gotten whiplash as I stared at the malicious behemoth in absolute horror. _200 THOUSAND YEN! I don't have that kind of money!_ Continuing to chuckle to himself, Ushio looks at me with a sneer, "What? Don't have the money? I'll give you until tomorrow, since I'm feeling generous. And just as a reminder about what happens if you don't pay up…" He then picked me up by the collar, lifting me far off the ground, and before I could even blink, his fist connected hard with the side of my face. I started to fall to the ground, but I never reached it as a foot kicked me airborne again. Then a knee landed straight in my abdomen. Luckily, I did not end up spewing the contents of my stomach all over the pavement. However, I was not given a reprieve from the onslaught of blows to my already weakened body for another few minutes. When Ushio determined that I 'had got the message', he gave one last kick to my gut before walking off, turning only once to relay that that was not the worst he could do, the threat implied by the knife that he pulled from his pocket. _Damn. Now what am I to do? I have no way of beating him even if I_ _ **did**_ _condone fighting, myself. I'm just too small and weak. And I don't have that kind of money either. I'm doomed._

Once Ushio was finally gone and it was just us three battered teens sprawled across the ground, Honda finally opened his eyes. Without even one glance towards me, the brunet hefted himself to his feet before assisting his blonde friend and hobbled away. It was almost near the end of recess when Anzu finally found me and immediately, upon seeing my condition, rushed me to the nurse. She and the nurse begged me to tell them what had happened, but I remained tight-lipped for fear that Anzu might get hurt trying to defend me. I would rather face ten Ushio's then have her face even the one.

* * *

Later that night, I was working endlessly on the puzzle again. Anzu had insisted on walking me home today after the whole 'Ushio incident'. Usually carefree and jovial, my grandfather's face showed absolute terror when I walked through the game shop door covered in bruises and band-aids. He also tried to determine what I had endured, but, as with Anzu, I refused to speak about it and rushed up to my room. For the first few hours, I had scoured every nook and cranny in my room trying to accumulate the necessary 200 thousand Yen to appease Ushio, but I didn't even come close. Defeated, I had begun to work on the puzzle again. _At least before I probably get brutally beat within an inch of my life or_ _ **worse**_ _, I can at least finish this puzzle. I had wanted to finish it for years and I can only hope that I finish it before I have to face the horrors that Ushio surely has planned for me._

As I continued working on the artifact, I noticed that peculiarly I was having greater success in completing it. The pieces almost seemed to sing to me, telling me which piece went where and before I knew it, I had a full mini golden pyramid in my hands. The only piece that remained was the one with the Wadjet eye which lay in the center on one side of the puzzle. Reaching blindly into the box, glee overwhelming me at the prospect that I finally achieved my goal, my hand was met with nothing. Thinking I was surely mistaken and that my hand just missed it, I glanced over at the box only for my joy to plummet into horror at seeing the emptiness. _I-it's not there. Did I lose it?!_ Frantically, I tore apart my room looking for the one golden piece but to no avail. _Did it fall out at school? Where could it be?! If I don't find it now, I'll probably never be able to finish this and–and I won't get my wish._ I felt tears swimming behind my eyes as I slumped over my desk, too tired and defeated to do much else but stare at the puzzle that I had come so close to completing. I was so lost in my own head that I didn't even hear someone enter my room.

"Wow! Amazing! You actually finished the puzzle. I honestly didn't think that you would be able to do it, but you proved me wrong." Disappointed in my failure, I didn't acknowledge my grandfather's praise. Instead I dug myself further into my despair by relaying to him that I did not in fact complete the puzzle, that there was still a missing piece. "Now, now, Yugi. You have dedicated eight years of your life to this. You shouldn't give up so easily, for you never know what fate might have in store…" With these words, the elderly man shoved his wrinkled but still strong fist in front of my face before slowly opening it. _THE LAST PUZZLE PIECE!_ Ecstatic, I leaped at my grandfather, hugging him tightly and thanking him extensively. "I'm not the one you should thank. A friend of yours came by, dripping wet I might add, and returned this." _A friend? Anzu? But wait–if it was Anzu then why didn't he just say her name? He knows who she is…so then_ _ **who**_ _? Well, whoever it was, I am eternally grateful to you._

Staring at the piece now in my hand, I almost want to pinch myself. _I'm finally going to complete the puzzle._ I'm so absorbed in my accomplishment and my joy at now having the last piece that I didn't notice when my grandfather left or that he had left something else behind. When I finally felt that I had basked enough in the glory of the idea that I was going to be the one to complete the ancient puzzle, I took a breath, and silently made my wish as I pushed the last piece into the puzzle. _I wish for friends. Friends that wouldn't betray me and who I wouldn't ever betray._ When I heard that final click, I opened my eyes to see the finished product. As I looked at the puzzle, I felt a warmth grow from it before the golden object seemed to glow, blinding me. I wanted to look away, to close my eyes against the bright light but I could only stare, slack-jawed, before finally I felt myself start to lose consciousness. As I drifted, I had a weird feeling that this was just a beginning. A beginning to what, I had no idea.

* * *

 _(1): Butterfly Sudoku Samurai is a sudoku puzzle consisting of fives groups of four puzzles all interconnected. Basically a reeaally large and complex sudoku puzzle. Honestly, watching both Season 0 and reading the manga and knowledge of most teachers, I HIGHLY doubt Yugi would have been able to just randomly pull out an intricate game during class without possibility of it being confiscated. Also, it doesn't seem like enough time before recess has started for him to have either built a stacked card structure or pulled and played with whatever game that is in the manga (name escapes me right now). So, that is where the sudoku puzzle comes in._

* * *

 _AN: So again, please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: People seem to like this so far, so I will continue. Thank you again to all those that have faved, followed, and reviewed. As for any questions about possible shippings (although I'm not comfortable revealing too much of my story ahead of time) I will admit that in this story they are either going to be: (A) Not majorly impacting the overall plot; (B) Platonic; or (C) I haven't thought about it yet and do not know if it will show up at all. Now that that is out of the way, let's see what's going to happen next.  
_

 **Disclaimer:** **_If I did own Yu-gi-oh, there would be a lot more powerful female characters, possibly a female lead...so no I sadly cannot claim ownership._**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _'Yami's' POV (1)_

The light finally started to fade. The warmth in my hands and against my forehead cooled. All that remained now was a dull ache from where my forehead rested against something hard and the throbbing pain from all the bruises adorning my body. _Ow. What happened?_ Even as I asked the question, memories started flooding back to me. _That's right. I had finally completed the puzzle. (2)_ Groggily, I opened my eyes. A golden eye stared back at me. _I must have collapsed onto the puzzle. That must be what's causing this discomfort._ Slowly I lifted my head and glanced around my room. Nothing else seemed to be amiss and the lightshow didn't appear to garner any attention from the other denizens of the house as no one was racing in here to know what had occurred. Nonetheless, I stared at the door for a few moments, waiting.

When nothing happened, I decided to get up and prepare for bed as usual. However, as soon as I moved, a shot of fire raced across my body, reminding me of my still sore figure. _Ushio._ Unprecedented rage filled my core at just the thought of the giant. He was the cause of all this pain and would be responsible for further damage once I showed up without the money he demanded. I remembered the way that he beat me senseless earlier to "remind" me of this payment I apparently owed him for his act of "justice" disciplining my "bullies", being no better, probably worse, than the ones he punished. Jonouchi and Honda had acted with the intent to help me, whereas Ushio had wanted to do this harassment to sate his greed and aggression. Even the thought of others being harmed in my name, whether they really were my friends or not, made my anger flare stronger. Even though I'm usually pacifistic in nature, this fury felt surprising right. _I want to stop him. Stop him from harming others. But how? I'm small and he's strong and powerful. Moreover, what can I possibly do against a knife?_

I looked down at the now completed puzzle, silently hoping for it to give me an answer. Nothing happened outwardly but just staring at it I got a sense of what I could do as though the golden item in my hands was whispering to me the answer to my unspoken question. _Shadow Game._ I didn't understand it fully, but I just knew that the object would aide me. How it would help, I wasn't sure yet.

As I continued gazing at my puzzle, I spotted something in my peripheral. Turning, I saw that it was a white envelope poking out of my backpack. _That's odd. I don't remember that being there…maybe grandpa put it in._ Gingerly, I ambled over to the bag, slipping the rope attached to the puzzle over my neck so that the golden item itself rested on my abdomen, and took the envelope out. I flipped it over a few times, inspecting it for any tell-tale marks to indicate what it was for, before I opened it to examine the contents. _400 THOUSAND YEN! How did grandpa know?!_ Ogling the money now in my possession, I felt the puzzle begin to almost pulse with a faint warmth across my chest as an idea started to form in my head. I felt a small smirk grace my lips at the thought of my devised plan, fueling me with unbridled confidence. First things first, I'll need to make a phone call.

After venturing to my door and peering around it, I headed for the phone that I knew resided in the living room. So focused was I on my mission that I missed altogether the subtle changes to my appearance that the mirror near the door reflected. If I had looked, I would have noticed the narrowed crimson eyes instead of wide violet, the golden spikes shooting through the ebony base of my hair like a crown, and the softening of my face from child chubbiness to something that appeared more womanly. However, I did not see any of this at this time and I would not discover any of these alterations until much later.

After a rapid search for the phone book and then finding the name I desired, I picked up the phone, the dial tone sounding in my ear. Quickly scanning my surroundings to ensure I would not be overheard, I dialed the number and listened to the ringing before a sleepy voice finally responded.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hello, Ushio-san. I have your money. Come to the school at…" a swift glance at the clock nearby told me that it was nearly eleven. "Midnight. I'll give it to you then," I finished. That should give both of us plenty of time to arrive and for me to prepare. When there was no immediate response I spoke again, my tone demanding no refusals, "Is that alright with you?"

"Yugi-kun? Is that _you_?" was the bewildered reply.

"Yes. Now do we have an agreement?" I asked exasperated. I almost started tapping my foot hoping that would speed-up this dull conversation. _What is up with me all of a sudden? I'm not acting in any way like I remember. This confidence. This anger. This is all foreign to me and yet at the same time_ _ **familiar**_ _in some way… Perhaps this is just because of the situation and my desire to prevent others being hurt. Perhaps the confidence comes from the pride of completing the near-impossible puzzle. Perhaps, however unlikely it may seem, the puzzle itself is the source of these newfound emotions, just like it was the source of the concept of my plan._ All these thoughts flew through my head until the voice on the other end of the phone spoke again, refocusing me in the present. _I'll figure this conundrum out later. For now, I have other matters to focus on._

"Midnight? Alright, I'll be there and you better have the money or _else_." With that, the phone clicked as Ushio hung up. _Perfect…my plan is coming together quite nicely._ Smiling even wider, I placed the phone back in its cradle and made my way downstairs to leave and head off to my chosen destination, silently glad that I was still clad in my uniform and not dressed in my pajamas.

* * *

It was five 'til when Ushio finally appeared. Wanting to savor the moment, I let him look around, impatience oozing off his body, while I stayed hidden in the shadows. When the clock finally struck midnight, I strode over to the ginormous man. Having finally spotted me, Ushio scanned me, the large eyebrows above his icy black eyes furrowing in a frown. _Damn! Those eyebrows are huge. I mean, I noticed their enormity before, but with his eyes squinting at me so much right now they're all I_ _ **can**_ _see. If he was a villain in a comic book, he could easily have been named Eyebrow-man or something along those lines._ I slightly chuckled at my own poor excuse for a joke.

"What's wrong, Ushio-san? Surprised that I actually came? Or do you really have that terrible of eyesight?" I stated while folding my arms across my chest, tilting my head to the side with an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Yugi-kun? You look different," was the giant's baffled response before he shook his head. In a more serious and menacing tone he said, "Whatever. Your…exploration is none of my business." _Exploration? What could he possibly mean by that?_ "Just hand over the money you owe me or else we will have to solve this the hard way." With those final words, he brandished his knife that he had predictably hidden in his pocket.

Shrugging off the 'exploration' comment, I forced myself to concentrate on fulfilling my plan. Smirking, I pulled the envelope containing the money out of my pocket and watched as Ushio's eyes glowed with greed upon just seeing the white envelope and grew even wider at seeing the money, itself. "Oh, silly me. I seem to have miscounted and brought twice as much as needed," I playfully spoke as a wide grin, like that of a starved man seeing a steak presented before him, broke out on Ushio's face. "Now, I _could_ just give it all to you, but where's the fun in that? I propose that we play a game for it. Winner gets all 400 thousand Yen." Instantly the manic expression was washed from the man's face as he looked at me as though I was insane, which I very well may be for even considering this but I'm not backing down now. "Or are you scared that you might lose?" I baited with a cocky smile.

In response to my comment, Ushio's eyes hardened into glacial onyx. "Hmph. A game? Is that all? Bring it on! I'll beat your weird ass and take all that money, no problem," he boasted. _That's right. Fall into my trap._

"I must warn you however, this will be no ordinary game. This will be a Shadow Game." Ushio's eyes widened for a moment before he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Now for this game, the rules are simple," I continued. Gesturing to both the money in my hand and the knife in his, "All we will need is these two items." Finding a tree stump, I laid the money carefully on it and motioned for Ushio to hand me the dagger. After a moment's hesitation, he begrudgingly set it in my outstretched palm. Demonstrating as I instructed, "The game will require each of us to place the stack of money on one of our hands and stab through the pieces with the knife. The number of notes collected are how many we get to keep. The winner is the one who collects the most notes once all the notes have been collected and will therefore receive the entire 400 thousand. However, there is one stipulation." My grin widened with a hint of malice. "If one of us were to stab our hand as well, it is an automatic loss."

As I was explaining the rules, Ushio paled more and more with each word. I felt a bit of sadistic glee from scaring him so much. _Ok. Now I_ _ **know**_ _there is something seriously wrong with me. This is a_ _ **bit**_ _more peaceful than us outright fighting each other but still – this does seem pretty violent. And not to mention these strange emotions that are both familiar yet alien._ I almost want to call off the whole thing and let him take the money, but another, much louder and stronger, part of me wants to enact justice against this man. And this part of me is tightly holding the reigns over my actions and words. Controlling me. I was both scared of these anomalies and excited, just relishing in this newfound confidence shining through me.

Finally, Ushio regained his composure, faking excitement to begin the game, as he ordered me to start the game. "All right, I'll go first then," I say while I held the knife in my right hand, hovering over the money atop my left. Almost as an afterthought, I tell Ushio that any rule-breaking will result in a Penalty Game before plunging the dagger into the stack of paper. _Penalty Game? I don't know what that even means, but it felt just as right as calling for a Shadow Game. Almost as though the puzzle around my neck is teaching me what I must do to implement justice._ I pulled the knife back and saw that I only picked up seven bills. Shrugging my shoulders as if this was no big deal, I hand over the dagger and money, daring Ushio to do better.

Looking both irate and anxious, sweat beading upon his brow, Ushio took the knife and after a few moments, seeming to steel his resolve, speared the notes laying upon his own left hand. "Haha! That must be at least eleven notes! And my hand is unharmed. This will be all too easy to beat you!" he laughed.

"For now it may seem easy, but once there are only a few notes left, it will be much harder to keep your hand unblemished," I warn before taking my turn with the knife. This continued for another twenty minutes, each of us stabbing the money and taking our prize. Ushio had nearly twice the amount of money as me, and this frightened me for a moment before a feeling of calm and warmth rushed over me. This sensation seemed to originate from the puzzle, telling me to let the game play its course, that the game isn't over yet and for me to not give up. After taking my turn, which resulted in an additional three notes, I passed the knife and the majorly depleted pile of money. There were only ten notes left, so this game was surely almost over. The outcome, however, could still go either way.

With a smirk, Ushio accepts the proffered money and dagger. "This game is almost over, Yugi-kun. After this turn, I'll have won the game and the money. And since you decided to be so stupid about this whole transaction, I'll show you the other uses for this knife," he threatened menacingly, lifting the dagger up high before freezing. The anxiety from when the game had begun had returned, coating his face with beads of sweat. He looked absolutely panicked to the point that he even was shaking with fear, although his eyes still held that hint of greed. I felt a smug grin grace my face as I now understood the whispers of the puzzle better. _So a Shadow Game reveals a person's true nature, thus deciding their fate._ Having not taken my eyes off him, I saw immediately when a sick grin spread across his face, eyes glowing with madness, as he changed the direction of his thrust from the money to myself.

Without a moment's hesitation, I quickly sidestepped the incoming blade. Warmth pooled on my forehead and from the puzzle as the golden item glowed. Almost on auto-pilot, letting the puzzle guide me, I raised my hand toward Ushio, who had now taken a step back in terror, eyes fixated on my forehead. "You broke the rules, Ushio-san. And when the rules are broken, a Penalty Game must be implemented. All you have is greed in your heart, so as punishment for not following the rules of the Shadow Game, your greed will be what will consume you until there is nothing left. ILLUSION OF AVARICE!" I shout and a golden eye seems to fly off my forehead towards the frightened man. Once the eye connects, Ushio's own eyes light up in mania as he starts babbling about money, trying desperately to collect the leaves around him. I feel kind of bad for the now broken, insane man but a wave of assurance from the puzzle soothes me. Somehow, someway, I know that this madness will not be permanent, so long as the one punished learns their lesson and changes their outlook on life.

Quietly, as not to disturb the delusional man, I gather the real money, taking care to position the knife so that Ushio wouldn't accidentally stab himself, and head home. _This turned out better than I hoped. However, I will promise myself that in the future, if I were to do something like this again, I will try to not engage in such a violent game unless absolutely necessary._ Once back home, I return the money into the register and then retire to bed. Feeling that tomorrow (or really later today) will be brighter, I smile as I drift into sleep.

* * *

 _Yugi's POV_

I wake up to find myself in bed, still feeling immensely exhausted, when my alarm blares in my ears. Groaning, I roll over and shut it off and pray for a few more moments of sleep. My prayers go unanswered as I hear, not two seconds later, my grandfather yelling for to wake up or else he will dowse me with water. Having never actually stayed in bed long enough for him to fulfill his threat, I don't plan to start now. With a small grunt, I pull myself out of bed and head towards my closet so that I could get dressed for the day. That's when I spotted it, glinting in the corner of my eye. The puzzle I had slaved eight years over and finally completed it last night lying on my desk, the eye upon it almost winking as though it knew a secret. In awe of my own accomplishment, I carefully inspect my treasure before slipping it on. And then it dawns on me that the last thing I remember was completing the puzzle. _I must have been so exhausted last night that I guess I went on auto-pilot getting into bed._ I stare at the golden item for a few more moments until I hear grandpa yelling again. Fearing for what he might do, I quickly get dressed and head to the kitchen for breakfast.

"I still can't believe it. My own grandson is the one who completed the legendary Millennium Puzzle." These words are repeatedly mumbled by my grandpa for the entire morning until I decide that it was time for me to go to school. With a quick goodbye, I head out the door and almost run face first into Anzu. She smiles at me in a way that makes her azure eyes shine like the sun on the ocean as she offers to walk with me to school. I enthusiastically accept and thus begins a tradition between the two of us.

"I see that you finally completed the puzzle. I knew you could do it, Yugi!" she exclaimed, making me feel as though I'm floating at hearing her praise. My flight, however, soon crashes when I spot the school. _Damn it. I completely forgot about Ushio and since I don't have his payment I'm going to be beat so badly that my future children will feel it, if I am even able to_ _ **have**_ _kids after this._ Once we arrive in the schoolyard, however, we see a large group gathered around one of the large trees. Sharing a confused look, Anzu and I go to take a closer inspection. What we find is extremely baffling. In a pile of trash and leaves is Ushio, showering himself with them and manically calling the stuff money. Most of the gathered students were laughing at the foolish display, but I couldn't. No matter even if this guy had been planning to beat within an inch of my life, I didn't think that even he deserved this much ridicule.

Both of our good moods having been deflated, Anzu and I head into the school, splitting up as we each headed towards our lockers. As I approached my locker, I spotted someone leaning on it, appearing to be in a slight doze. Recognizing the sleeping student, I carefully tapped his shoulder, flinching away when his fist almost knocked into my head. "Good morning, Jonouchi-kun. How are you and your injuries?" I ask shyly. _I still feel terrible that he and Honda both got beat up because of me._

"Fine. You?" is his curt reply. I reply in the affirmative before asking him why he is standing in front of my locker. "Oh, well…I wanted to talk to you. I see that you've finished putting your treasure together." I slowly nod my head, scared of what he might do to it in his efforts for me to 'man-up'. "Here's the thing. I brought my own treasure to school today as well, but you can't actually see it. It's 'something that you can see but also can't see.'" At my puzzled expression, he continued, "It's friendship. You and I are visible, but you can't actually physically see friendship." _MY WISH! IT CAME TRUE!_ I felt my face break into a ginormous grin and knew that today was definitely going to be super special awesome.

Muttering something about getting to class, Jonouchi dashed off, one of his shoes flying in the air. Catching it, I chased after him, trying to return it. Things were definitely looking much brighter today.

* * *

 _(1) Name will be changed in a later chapter but until then 'Yami' will be the 'name' used to differentiate between POVs_

 _(2) 'Yami' believes that she is Yugi, 100%. In later chapters however she will start to question her identity._

 _AN: Again, constructive criticism is welcome. I will do my best to answer any questions you may or may not have, but then again where's the fun if I take away **all** the surprise._ _Thank you for reading thus far; please review._


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: To the people that read this, I thank you again for all your support. So, here's another chapter._

 _ **Disclaimer: Why would you even think I own Yu-gi-oh if I'm writing on this site?**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _Yugi's POV_

"UGH! He just irks me so much! I mean doesn't he have a filter or something for that hole in his face that he calls a mouth?! I know he's your friend and all now, but still – URGH! Saying that I have a nice ass, then calling me a short-tempered witch when I slap him across the face for that lewd comment! And that was me being nice; other girls I know would have kicked him the balls for such a remark! Who does he even think he is?!" Anzu ranted vehemently as we walked to school. Knowing that it's better to let her vent, I quietly listen. _I do have to admit, however, that Jonouchi is right. Anzu_ ** _does_** _have a nice ass, but I'm too scared to ever say something like that aloud to her._ ** _Especially_** _seeing the reaction that she is having over Jonouchi saying such a thing._

These kinds of rants have been quite frequent ever since Jonouchi and I became friends, from both him and Anzu. No matter what I do, Jonouchi and Anzu just can't seem to stop tearing at each other's throats whenever they see each other. They do manage to keep the arguments relatively mild for my sake, but I've heard from other students that it's like two volcanoes erupted as soon as I leave them alone. Luckily, whenever a teacher is around, they restrain themselves to only glaring at one another.

"And he even has the _nerve_ to call me an overprotective freak! Well, _excuuuse me_ , I don't exactly agree with any type of bullying, even if he does believe that some of it is good for 'strengthening their character'! And it is not babying if they're being beat with an inch of their life and I step in to save them! That is called being helpful and being a good person! Ugh. Remind me why you ever became friends with him?"

I stopped and looked up to see Anzu giving me an exhausted questioning look. Sheepishly, I played with my fingers while staring intently at my sneakers to avoid her gaze. Without looking up, I quietly mumbled, "W-well, it's because…we kinda bonded over the whole Ushio mess and – and I have a feeling that he's the one who recovered the last piece to my puzzle. B-besides, he wasn't _really_ bullying me."

"Yugi," she sighed. "Sometimes you are way too trusting for your own good." Then, as if in response to my crestfallen expression, she continued in a more chipper voice, "But that is not always a bad thing. It just means that you like to see the best in people and that is one of the reasons why I like you. You have such a big, caring heart and anyone who doesn't see that or wants to take advantage of it is a complete idiot, if you ask me. Being your friend and hanging out with you is one of the highlights of my day." She smiled radiantly at me and I couldn't help but smile back, even though it hurt a bit that she only saw me as a friend. _Then again, I would rather be life-long friends than ever risk our friendship by admitting my feelings to her._ We continued to walk in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. Finally, upon reaching the school, we both spotted something odd sitting in front of it. "Huh, wonder why there is a television van here?"

Curious myself, I ran over to the driver's side window, standing on the tips of my toes, to peer inside, saying, "I don't know, but let me check it out."

"Careful, Yugi. I don't think peering into someone else's vehicle is exactly a polite thing to do."

"Don't worry, Anzu," I replied, while I squinted my eyes to try to see through the window, even going so far as to press my face up against the glass. "Besides it looks like it has a one-sided window. I can't see a thing." Falling back on my heels, I sigh in disappointment and turn back to Anzu.

"Come on," she motions, "We better head off to class anyways." With one last glance at the van, I follow my friend into the school, all the while wondering about why there was a van out there in the first place.

After a quick stop at our respective lockers, we both headed into class 1-B. Predictably, Jonouchi is sleeping at his desk, leaning back in his chair, with a bit of drool forming at the corner of his mouth. It is well known by all of class 1-B, that if Jonouchi isn't already in class, most of the time sleeping, then he is running so late that he only barely makes it to his seat before the teacher walks in. Some people would take advantage of a sleeping student in class by drawing on their face or other childish foolishness, but not with Jonouchi. The first time someone was brave enough to mess with the blonde, he found himself with a black eye and a broken nose. After that, it was a unanimous, unspoken decision by all to let Jonouchi have his sleep. And even without that incident to scare us all off, Honda was almost always there, glaring at anyone that got to close to the sleeping boy. Today was no different, except when Honda spotted Anzu and me, he sneered and abandoned his friend to talk with some random kid on the other side of the room.

 _Why does he seem to hate me so much?_ Last week, Jonouchi, in an effort to make peace and form bonds between his two friends, invited both of us with him to get a new pair of shoes for himself. After a weird string of events, including a scorpion, a stingy shop owner, thieving goons hired by the very same shop owner, and a minor memory blackout _(I hope this isn't too serious)_ , I had been in possession of the supposedly top-notch shoes, albeit with a hole in one of them, which Jonouchi oddly dubs as his 'medal of honor'. During this whole experience, however, Honda constantly griped with Jonouchi about him inviting 'the shrimp', to which Jonouchi would respond that he was trying to make his two friends get to know one another and possibly become friends too. Despite, Jonouchi's wishes, Honda had either scowled at me or outright ignored me the entire day. Even after I had somehow recovered the shoes, he still looked at me like I was the worst person on the planet. I don't know what I did to earn his ire, but I hope that he can find it in his heart to at least tolerate me, for the sake of Jonouchi.

Almost as if on cue, just as the teacher walked in, Jonouchi snapped himself awake. Everyone raced to their respective seats before we began our customary greeting to the teacher. After we retook our seats, the teacher began her lecture. Thankfully, Chono-sensei seemed to be in a good mood. Or at least as good of a mood as she could be since there was no immediate bag and desk check. When the lecture began to become too tedious, I discretely pulled out some of my puzzles that I had stashed away in my bag. Keeping up the appearance of taking notes, I began to work on a complex nonogram puzzle, noticing out of the corner of my eye, Jonouchi regularly taking peeks at my game whenever Chono-sensei wasn't looking. By the time recess came around, I had completed two nonograms, three renograms (1), and one sudoku puzzle.

"Hey, Yugi. What's with all those games that you play during class?" Jonouchi asked me once the classroom was vacated by all except him, Anzu, and me. When Honda had left, he had turned around to give me one last hate-filled glare before following the rest of the class outside. I could only sigh at that reaction, feeling dejected at how I could create such a strong emotion in someone else.

However, I brightened back up at Jonouchi's question, answering, "Well, I love puzzles and games so much and I have a terrible attention span when it comes to all these lectures. I just can't ever seem to focus." At this comment, Jonouchi nodded in understanding. This made sense since he did happen to have the lowest average out of all of class 1-B. Smiling cheerfully at Anzu, I said, "Lucky for me, however, I have a great tutor. Anzu, with help from Jii-chan, always knows how to explain this material in a way that is more exciting!" I spotted Anzu cheeks turning a light pink which made me blush.

"Aw, man! I wish I had a tutor that could help me understand all of this crap. I'm barely passing as is," he cried, slapping his hand to his forehead while sinking low in his seat. I tried to suggest that perhaps Anzu could help, but that idea was struck down by two simultaneous "NO!'s" which was succeeded by heated glares between the two. I tried to quickly think of a new topic in hopes of extinguishing them before they burst out into a full-blown inferno. That's when I remembered the television van parked outside.

"Hey, Jonouchi-kun! Did you happen to see that van parked out front, today?" He broke his stare-down with Anzu to give me a puzzled look while also shaking his head. "Well, it looked like a tv van. Do you have any idea why one would be here?" His features pulled into a deep-thinking look as he scratched his head in thought.

"Yugi. It's probably nothing important. Maybe some teacher won some money or…something," Anzu tried to reason. "Who knows? Maybe the school is planning to–"

"AHA!" Jonouchi jumped onto the top of his desk as he exclaimed, "It has to be because of a celebrity or some other famous person! They are coming to visit the school! Maybe–" He was cut off by a swift smack to the back of his head by Anzu making him almost fall on his face. "HEY! What was that for?!"

"Come on!" she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, think about it. Why would some famous celebrity come here of all places? And even if they did, the entire school would have been abuzz with this kind of information, swarming him or her to be able to get a picture or autograph."

"She must be in disguise!" he cried out, looking triumphant in his reasoning.

"SHE?! What makes you assume that the nonexistent star is female?" Anzu replied exasperated.

Ignoring her questioning of his logic, Jonouchi pounded his fist into other hand, a look of determination on his face. "I will find this celebrity and unmask her! Just think about all the money I could get from selling a picture of her!"

"You're impossible. Even _if_ there was a celebrity here, you trying to unmask him or her and sell their picture against their will _is a crime_!" Rubbing her temples, Anzu looked at me, drained, as she said, "I'm going to go to the restroom to cool down. Otherwise I might ring this idiot's neck for his immense stupidity." She glared at Jonouchi with that last statement, before exiting the room.

"Jeez, what a bitch! Always nagging on me and calling me stupid. Well, I'll show her! I'm going to find that star and expose them, so then she'll have to realize that I'm not a complete idiot. You coming with me, Yugi?" he spoke determinedly, raising his fist to face level.

I chewed my lip as I stared down at the floor. I hated it when my friends fought, especially when they started resorting to name-calling. I, particularly, did not like being put in the middle of their fights and having to be forced to pick a side. In this case, I had to partially agree with Anzu. This endeavor of Jonouchi's might result in more bad than good, but I was also anxious to possibly see a celebrity in person that I nodded and followed the taller boy out of the room. As we were walking through the halls, I began to voice my concerns, "Jonouchi-kun, are you sure this is a good idea? I really wouldn't want to get in trouble."

He waved off my worries. "Don't let Anzu's uptightness get in your head. She's just a major worrywart and fun-killer. This will be the most exciting thing you and I will do in years!"

With eyes downcast, I muttered, "Okay. But what if Anzu is right and there really is no star here and the tv van was here for something else?"

"YUGI! Don't you have any faith in me?" When I didn't immediately reply, he decided to go searching for the idol on his own, leaving me standing alone in the hallway wondering what I did wrong.

"Hey, Yugi-kun, right?"

I looked behind me to see a guy whose sandy hair was held out of his russet eyes by a white and green headband and looked a little on the overweight side, as if he has a slight addiction to donuts. His nose had to be the most prominent feature since it seemed to cover almost half his face. His clothes looked to be a bit too big for even a guy of his size, as the pants were nearly dragging on the floor. I don't remember ever seeing him around here before, but of course I am aware that I don't know _all_ the students in this school.

I shyly nod to the heavy-set boy. The stranger leaned down to my level, first looking down each hallway, before whispering, "You know, your loud friend is right. There _is_ a celebrity here at this school. And I happen to know her pretty well." After a brief pause, a small smile graced his lips. "You know, I bet that you and her would get along greatly from all that I've heard about you. If you want to meet her, I can arrange a meeting behind the gym, but you have to be there before the end of recess. Oh, and come alone. She really doesn't want too many people to know that she is here." He winked at me to ensure I kept this between us.

Astonished at my stroke of luck, my face shone brightly as I immediately accepted the arrangement this unfamiliar person was suggesting. _Jonouchi was right! And I am actually lucky enough to actually meet a celebrity!_

The boy, pleased with my answer, ran off, waving at me. "Remember, Yugi-kun, behind the gym! And before recess is over!" Before he got too far, I yelled back at him asking for his name. "It's Fujita!" he called over his shoulder before disappearing around a corner.

Almost immediately after he was gone, I turned to look for Jonouchi before I remembered that I was to come alone. _I feel bad for Jonouchi. He really wanted to meet the celebrity…AHA! Maybe I can convince her to meet my other friends. I know if handled correctly both Anzu and Jonouchi would promise to keep her identity secret._ Encouraged by this idea, I set off for the meeting destination. What I didn't notice was someone watching me from the shadows of one of the hallways, having been there soon after my conversation with conversation with Fujita had begun.

Turning around the corner to the area behind the gym, I saw Fujita already standing there in front of some thick bushes. Strolling over to the large boy, I kept glancing around, looking for the celebrity that I was promised to meet. Fujita waved me over, urging me to come closer. "You came!"

"Umm…Fujita-san? Where is the celebrity I'm supposed to meet?" I asked confused. _I thought this was where we were supposed to meet. Maybe she is running a bit late to our meeting…_

"Well…the thing is…" He leaned in close. Thinking he was about to tell me another secret I moved myself closer, standing on the tips of my toes. Before he said anything else, I felt a sharp blow to the side of my jaw. Falling to the ground, I tilted my head up to see Fujita standing there with a clenched fist. "You're so gullible. There wasn't any celebrity here at all!" He reached down and grabbed me by the hair yanking me up. "You are just a pathetic kid who would believe anything anyone told you." These words were met with another punch on the other side of my face. Another series of punches and kicks followed making my body ache all over as he continued to insult my trusting nature. _I'm going to be covered head to toe in bruises once this guy's done with me. Thankfully I finally took up Anzu's idea to invest in a protective vest to put on under my clothes so hopefully it won't be too bad._

"HEY! LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!"

Pausing before he landed his next punch, Fujita turned to the newcomer, holding me by the collar of my shirt. Squinting around my swollen cheeks, I saw my savior. _JONOUCHI!_ Before either Fujita or I could blink, Jonouchi had raced over and wrenched me from the large boy's grip. I crumbled to the ground and watched as Jonouchi grabbed Fujita in the same manner as he had held me moments before, demanding an explanation.

"I-I-I di-didn't wa-ant to. I w-was forced. B-by th-the director," the boy stammered, eyes filled with pure terror, as he pointed at the bushes behind me. Twisting my head in that direction, I saw two dark-haired men appear, one holding a camera and the other clapping his hands with a giant, wicked grin on his face.

Jonouchi quickly looked between the two, ignoring the cameraman altogether, before he dropped Fujita and made his way to unleash his fury on the director. "Why you…BASTARD! I'll make you wish you were never born!" He grabbed the director by the collar of his shirt and pulled back his fist, ready to land his punch but paused upon hearing the director's next words.

"Ah-ah-ah." He waved a finger in Jonouchi's face. "Hit me and it will all be caught on camera. When the police see the tape of you assaulting me, well…you know what will happen." Smirking at Jonouchi's falter, the director kneed him right in the gut, knocking the wind out of him, and laughed while Jonouchi collapsed to the ground. I cried out Jonouchi's name in horror. "You should feel honored you're friends with the star of my bullying exposé. But don't worry about anyone recognizing you, since we'll just end up mosaicking out your faces." With those final words and a sinister laugh, the director, with the cameraman following dutifully behind, departed. Fujita stood there for a moment, glancing back and forth from our bruised bodies to the direction the director had gone before lowering his head in defeat. With a mumbled apology, he too left.

With them gone, I proceeded to slowly pull myself up, wincing as each movement caused immense pain to flare throughout me. As soon as I was on my feet, I dragged myself over to Jonouchi, carefully rolling him over onto his back. I, then, gently shook my friend and uttered his name to arouse him. Slowly but surely, Jonouchi opened his eyes, deep regret coating them.

"Yugi," he breathed, "I am so sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn't abandoned you in that hallway because of my feeling of betrayal, this would never have happened. I tried to tell him it was fine, that I was fine. In a fevered voice, he cut me off, "No, Yugi. It is not fine. If Honda hadn't told me that you were coming here, I don't know what all you would have gone through."

"Honda?" I inquired in case my ears were deceiving me. I know how much Honda seems to hate me, so why would he help me by sending Jonouchi? By now Jonouchi had also gotten to his feet and we were ambling towards the nurse's office, leaning on each other for support.

"Yeah. He overheard your conversation with that other guy apparently and felt like rubbing it in my face that, in his opinion, I had picked the stupidest person to become friends since, and I quote, 'Yugi is such a moron to believe such an obvious lie'." _Oh, so he still does hate me._ "I think he was just trying to get a rise out of me, but I do have to admit that I'm glad that he did say something, even if it was just to mock you."

"YUGI!" a female voice exclaimed. We had finally reached the nurse's office and coming around the corner, running towards us was Anzu. With an accusing glare towards Jonouchi, she cried, "What happened?! I leave you two alone for five minutes and _you_ manage to get both you and Yugi hurt! Gah!"

"Wait, Anzu! It wasn't Jonouchi's fault. Someone else beat me up and Jonouchi came to save me." I jumped in between my two friends. Disappointed in myself, I hung my head as I murmured, "I was the foolish one for believing the guy when he told me that he would introduce me to a celebrity."

"Yugi. I do love how you try to find the good in everyone, but you need to learn to not always believe everything you hear." With a sigh, she ushered us both into the nurse's office.

The nurse took one glance at the three of us and promptly had both Jonouchi and me sit on the two beds before beginning her examination. She immediately began with me, since I appeared the most injured with my face being swollen from all the blows that I had endured and whatever else damage that my clothing hid. I was lucky, though, as she told me that all I would have were some major bruises, especially since my vest had protected all my vital organs and the blows to my face hadn't cracked any bones. She treated my multitude of bruises and said that I was cleared to return to class. Jonouchi, on the other hand, seemed to have suffered from some blunt trauma to a few of his organs and was therefore required by the nurse to rest in her office. She said it wasn't fatal but she would at least like to keep him there for a bit more observation.

Jonouchi smiled at me as Anzu led me out of the room, saying confidently that he had endured worse and that he'd be back on his feet in no time. As Anzu and I made our way back to our classroom, all I could do was replay the entire scenario in my head. With each repeat, I felt my anger towards the director intensify until I stared to see red. _He harmed my friend only because Jonouchi had been trying to save me!_ I started to drag behind, but Anzu didn't seem to notice, already used to the fact that I usually have to walk twice as fast just to keep up with her and probably figuring that I'm too exhausted to do so. Soon I felt the usually cold Millennium Puzzle laying against my chest heat up before a familiar glow started to emanate from it. The last two times this happened, I had blackouts and couldn't remember what had happened between the time it glowed and when I opened my eyes again. I didn't want to close my eyes for fear of another blackout, but as the light became too intense, my eyes shut of their own accord and soon all I could see was an inky darkness.

* * *

 _(1) Nonogram: It's a picture puzzle where you are given clues about which boxes to shade in to create the puzzle based on the numbers on the top and the side.  
Renogram: It's a number ordering puzzle fit in one box, snaking around within to connect each number to the next whether it be adjacent or on a diagonal._  
 _(If you still need assistance in picturing these, I got the idea from the Nancy Drew PC game Shadow at the Water's Edge)_

 _AN: Thank you again for reading! If you would please review, that would make my day._


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: First off: I AM SO SORRY! Life happened, including but not limited to being stuck with no internet access for about a week and computer hating me. Also I had a bit of writer's block. I'll do my best to update again soon, but if it takes me another month just know that I haven't given up or forgotten about this. (I'll tell you all if I do.)  
Second: I'd like to thank everyone that has favorited, followed, reviewed, or is anonymously enjoying reading this story._

 _Third and most important...the disclaimer:_ ** _I do not, nor will I ever, own Yu-gi-oh no matter how much I wish it._**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 _'Yami's' POV_

Carefully, I reopened my eyes, as the golden item around my neck cooled, and scanned my surroundings. Anzu had already turned the corner and was probably almost back to class by now. I was alone in the hallway. Alone, angry…and also confused. I understood easily why I was angry. The anger was fed from my fear for Jonouchi and sadness in that I could do nothing to help my friend at the time. But now I felt prepared to do something about it as the waves of confidence, which so far seemed to accompany the strange light of the Puzzle, flooded through me. However, despite the pride and self-assurance flowing through me, I was unnerved concerning my _own_ reaction just a few moments ago. I had feared the glow of the Puzzle, the warmth that it exudes. I had feared blacking out like when I had solved the Puzzle and after discovering the truth about that crooked salesman. _But I didn't black out...I_ ** _didn't_** _..._

In addition to my mixed feelings towards the Puzzle and the 'supposed' blackouts, I had conflicts in my memories. I remember playing the knife game with Ushio but I also don't recall it as well. The same goes for that game I played with that corrupt shop owner. I remember him daring me to do the same scorpion trick as Jonouchi, this time with him actually using the deadly critter, and me turning the experience into a game of collect the coins. It went against my plan of not doing dangerous games, but he was the one who had set it all up. Luckily for him, the paramedics were able to rush him off to the hospital after he decided to cheat and ended up getting stung himself. I also remember dreaming of a golden labyrinth of hundreds of staircases and doors which reminded me of a certain painting, but the name of it and the artist escapes me (1). I remember all of this and at the same time I do not. During the game with the shop owner, I was too focused on him to pay any mind to this conundrum back then and it had only been the one time, aside from the dreams, but now there are two memory discrepancies. _What does this mean? Is my mind playing tricks on me? Why do I have two versions of memories for two events? Am I going crazy?_

"Heh. The pipsqueak lives."

Pausing my inner questioning of my sanity, I turn to see Honda lazily strolling down the hall, presumably going to use the restrooms. He doesn't spare me even a second glance as he continues to his destination. I felt a bit miffed at his surprised response, as though he didn't believe I would have survived, but I was slightly grateful to him for pulling me out of my reverie. If I did want to obtain justice for Jonouchi against that director, I can't be weighed down by any irrelevant thoughts. I must be focused. These riddles can wait until after.

Turning on my heel, I race to the entrance of the school, disregarding the fact that there is still a few more hours of school left, and run out the doors. I normally would never leave school early or do anything to warrant myself getting even detention, but, in this moment, it couldn't feel more right. Freeing. I felt the exhilaration flow through me as the alien familiarity of the situation made me question my actions once again. _Why? Why do I feel like breaking the rules and running from authority is a usual occurrence for me? I have_ ** _never_** _done this before in my life! Heck, it's been ingrained into me to always be respectful and courteous to everyone, especially my elders. Something…something isn't quite right with me anymore._ Despite these thoughts, I continue on, believing I'll be able to answer them after I deal with that director.

Once outside I carefully make my way to the outer gates, hoping to not be spotted. Still appearing to be in the clear, I squeeze through the bars, for once being grateful for my small stature, and run to the other side of the road. I know I should probably just forget about all of this and be the dutiful kid I was raised to be and return to class, yet I just can't. Something inside me, something that I know with all my heart is not a thing I have ever really felt before, but at the same time it feels more attuned to me than most of my other characteristics that I exhibit during the rest of the day. _Mischief._

Breathing heavily, I peer over at the place where I had seen the van parked earlier today, however it has long since departed now. Racking my brains, I try to remember the name of the television station that was imprinted on the side of the van. _Something TV…hmm…AH! ZTV!_ With that determined, I look for something to guide me in the right direction.

After a quick conversation with a couple of polite strangers and a look at a map, I find myself in front of the ZTV Station. It wasn't that much of an impressive building but what did I expect from a place that hired men who liked to create drama by distorting reality only to fuel their own insatiable desires. Glancing to my right I spot a parking garage wedged in-between the ZTV building and the next. I had a feeling that that was a good place to start to look for that director. Either he's there now or he'll have to come there eventually.

With my head held high, I crossed the street and strode into the garage. Instantly, the heat of the sun's rays vanishes and the cool atmosphere of the garage envelops me. The garage is filled but not over-brimming with vehicles. I spot many modest cars, some expensive-looking sports cars, a few vans (both television and personal), and a couple of trucks. Most of the cars were basic black, grey, white, or blue, but I did spy one truck in the back that was a bright neon pink. I cock an eyebrow and snort a bit at the oddity. _I guess they have a whole variety of people working here._

Noticing a ZTV van _(hopefully the one from before)_ , I move through the shadows towards my target. _If I'm lucky, that director will come back here for something or I might be able to find and destroy that tape. If I do manage to get rid of the tape and take care of the director, Jonouchi can be safe from doing something reckless that would result in him being in more trouble than he already is. I would rather face this myself than have any of my friends be hurt on my behalf; the blow Jonouchi took was more than enough._ However, just before I'm able to open the back doors to see inside I hear a door on the opposite side of the garage bang open and voices shatter the silence. Slinking back into the shadows to avoid being spotted by any random passerby, I wait and listen.

"Nice job, Rentaro-san! (2) That bullying exposé using that _weird_ tri-colored haired kid will rake in _millions_." _My hair isn't that weird!...Is it?_ "He was the perfect subject being all innocent-looking and the fact that you managed to make the bullying look so realistic… _priceless_. I hope we can keep your genius for many years to come," an unfamiliar voice laughed.

"Yes, well it is hard to find and cultivate greatness," the cocky voice of the director boasted. Just hearing his voice made my body tense and my eyes narrow into slits.

The new voice continued to chuckle. "Well, I hope your apprentice can manage to soak up some of that brilliance to learn to be almost as good, if not better, than you."

"No one can surpass the perfection that is me, but after I'm done with this kid," the conceited director said, which was also accompanied by a smacking sound, as if someone was patting someone else's back, "he'll be molded into someone that is at least adequately competent." _Is he really_ ** _this_** _smug about himself? I doubt there is anyone more arrogant in the world. If I actually_ ** _do_** _find one, then…I don't know…I'll actually ask Anzu on a date or something despite my fears. Or I'll do a stupid dance or sing a children's song in front of the guy. Maybe all three or something else completely embarrassing or ridiculous…but I_ ** _highly_** _doubt that I'll meet anyone more obnoxious._

"Well, either way, with you working for us," the other man continued, "there will be no doubt of our continued success. I can't wait to see what you come up with next. Until then, see you tomorrow." After these words, I could hear footsteps walking into the distance before an engine started and one of the many black cars pulled out of the garage. I shrunk low behind the vehicles around me so that the glaring lights from the headlights would not reveal my presence.

"Heh," the voice of the director snickered. "With this kind of success, I can do almost anything. I'm like a god to these suckers. I wonder…maybe I'll be able to even have someone killed on camera. The police here are idiots, anyways."

"Wait! Did you say kill?!" a third voice, who hadn't spoken yet, questioned with absolute fear. Recognizing the voice, my eyes widen in surprise. _It's Fujita!_ "You–you can't be serious, can you? Killing someone is a crime!"

"And beating someone up for no good reason isn't also morally wrong?" the director sneered. "I could easily destroy your entire life. With a few words from me, and a revelation that you had beat up that kid of your own volition, and your career, your life would be ruined."

"Bu-but you told me to do it…"

"Ha. But you didn't have to agree. Besides it's your word against mine, and, seeing as how I'm already well-respected and you are just a nobody, it's quite obvious who they'd believe."

My anger at the cruelty and vindictiveness of the director's words skyrocketed. I was already furious for what he had done to Jonouchi, but for him to also essentially blackmail his own assistant, it has gone too far. Fists clenched, I almost march over to the man to play a Shadow Game, despite Fujita still being there, when the young man speaks up again, halting my movements. "I used to think that you were the best thing that's ever happened to me. But no, I was dead wrong. You. Are. A. _Monster_. Because of you, I'm going to forever live with the regret of wrongfully attacking an innocent kid. And now you are talking about _killing_ someone? I can no longer stand to be anywhere near you. So, destroy my reputation, my credibility, my life; I don't care! I QUIT! But before I leave, I'll make sure everyone at the station knows what kind of person you _really_ are." Threat stated, the door reopened and slammed shut behind Fujita, leaving me and the director alone.

"Heh," the director snorted. "Kid's overreacting. In no time he'll come crawling back to me, begging me to take him under my wing again. Besides no matter what anyone does, I always manage to come out on top."

"Is that so, Rentaro-san?" I asked, using the name I had just learned. By this time, I had made my way over to the director and was leaning against one of the nearby vehicles. Startled by my presence, the man jumped and whirled around with a glare painted on his face. Slightly pleased in causing this reaction, I smirk. "How about we test that little theory of yours and play a game?"

Beneath the scowl on the man's face, confusion started to seep through his features as he continued to stare at me. "Who are you? The twin sister or something of the kid I used in my video earlier?" _SISTER?! What the hell?!_ I felt my eyes harden as I tried not to reveal how much this comment rattled me. It was odd when Ushio had made a comment on my appearance, but I had dismissed it. I also had assumed that when that shop-owner had made that 'little girl' comment, he was either oblivious or being insulting. But now, a _third_ person commenting in a similar fashion about my appearance is a sign that something's not right.

 _Why do people think I am or resemble a girl?_ I know I'm a boy. Everything in my memories say that I am a boy. But then, again, why do these girl comments also feel right? Logic is screaming at me that I'm a boy but something deep down is telling me that, like the confidence and pride, this label is more of an accurate depiction of me. _Maybe I'm transgender_ …But thinking on more on it, I know that I don't always feel this way. Most of the time, the male title resonates within me, but it's only at times like this when the usual gender classification doesn't sit right with me. Why is it when I play these Shadow Games do I feel like I'm not really _Yugi_ , that I'm not really a _boy_? There is nothing to suggest otherwise, only this gut feeling. _All I know is that I_ ** _am_** _Yugi…but if I'm not Mutou Yugi, then who am I?_

"Kid," the director's voice broke me from my musings as I recalled the entire reason why I was here. "This is show-business. Sometimes you've got to tweak reality to get the nice juicy drama. So…sorry if you or your brother or whatever he is to you is upset about my vision, but that is the way this goes. And if you're here because either of you believe that he deserves to be paid for his little debut, then I have to tell you that that isn't going to happen. So move along, kid."

Despite the confusion on my identity swirling around in my head, I tilt my head to the side with a fake pout on my face, refocusing on the game at hand. "But you didn't even hear about the game I wanted to play with you."

"Didn't you hear me? Move along! I don't need to play some stupid game with you."

Smirking, "Oh, but this isn't just any game. It's a Shadow Game. And didn't you say that no matter what anyone does, you always manage to come out on top? How about you prove it?" Seeing the man's impatience growing thin, I start to dig in my bag to find something to play with. My hands brush against a deck of cards and an idea pops into my head of the game to play with this man. Pulling the cards out, I begin to shuffle them as I explained the rules. "In this game, we will each draw a card from anywhere in the deck. The ace will be treated as a one, therefore weaker than a two. The person who draws the higher point card wins. If we tie, you still win. If you win, I'll let you use me for any of your other videos, with no complaints or wage demands." (3) The director's eyes began to sparkle with the untold possibilities I was tempting him with. In a darker voice, fueled by my anger towards this man, I said, "But if I win, you will suffer a penalty game. I'll go first." Pulling the card at the top of the deck, I glance at it before showing it to the man with mock disappointment on my face. "Looks like I drew the ace of spades."

"HAHA!" the director chortled. "With that lame card, according to your rules, I won't even need to draw! I already win!"

"It appears that way, but the game's not over yet. Draw a card and prove how great you really are," I baited. _I really hope this Shadow Game isn't going to end up biting me in the ass._

"Stubborn much? Fine, I'll play your game, and then you'll be the star of my newest video in which I'll kill you!" the man retorted as he drew the next card from the deck, shoving the image in my face. "Ha! Further proof that I win and you're a pathetic loser."

I raised an eyebrow at the picture on the card as I shook my head. "It's befitting of you. That card. And now you will suffer a penalty game."

"WHAT! What the hell are you talking about?!" he screamed, before turning the card over to see the image printed on the front. Seeing what it was, the blood drained from his face and his eyes widened in shock as he realized that he had indeed lost.

"Like the Joker, or Fool, you play tricks to alter reality to your own amusement, sometimes at the suffering of others. Since you seem to enjoy seeing the world through a warped vision, that is how you will from now on see it." As I spoke, the Puzzle around my neck once again heated up, along with a warm sensation upon my forehead, and a golden radiance broke the shadows surrounding us. With my next words, the eye that had appeared during my game with Ushio sprung my forehead and engulfed the man before me, leaving him screaming in terror and clawing at his eyes. "ILLUSION OF MOSAIC!"

Satisfied with my work, I repack my deck in my bag and turn to exit the garage. However, before I can move, I notice the door behind me was open. On the other side of the door, is a wide-eyed Fujita who glances between the banshee director and me. Fearfully, the boy approaches me with a disc in a CD case extended to me which I carefully take and examine. "I don't know what you did to him but as long as he is no longer a harm to others I'm not going to complain. Here is that bullying video. All other copies should be deleted. I'm sorry for the role I played in that." The complete look of regret on the boy's face hit me hard and I felt compelled to give him a wordless hug to convey my gratitude and forgiveness. Fujita stiffened for a moment before returning the embrace. Pulling away, he said, "You should get going though before anyone else arrives. Be glad there is no security cameras here." Nodding with a small smile, I did a quick respectful bow to him before I raced out of that garage without a backwards glance and made my way for home.

When I finally made it home, I was so exhausted that I just plopped onto my bed and drifted off to sleep. The disc was left inside my bag to be dealt with tomorrow. But as I was being pulled under the dark embraces of sleep I couldn't help but wonder again why the director thought I was a girl. Why I felt so out of place in my own skin sometimes. Why I had conflicting feelings and memories. _Is there something truly wrong with me?_ Before I could ponder more over these issues, the labyrinth of my dreams swallowed me once again.

* * *

 _(1) Relativity by M.C. Escher_  
 _(2) Director never had a name in the manga, so I gave him one._  
 _(3) The original Shadow Game was with dice, but unlike most of the other Shadow Games, I didn't feel like it fit the character that was being challenged, so I altered a bit to fit the character better._

 _AN: That's Chapter 4. Okay if you have any ideas about a more ridiculous stunt 'Yami' will have to do once she meets a more arrogant person (*cough* Kaiba *cough*), then I'm all ears. Thank you for reading and please review._


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: I'M ALIVE! So, so, so, sorry that it's taken me this long to update. First school started up again, extracurriculars, Huricane Irma, tripling of homework to catch-up because of Irma...it's just safe to say that life happened. Also while writing this, I'm also working on a companion story that needs to be written alongside this if I want to keep my stories straight, but sadly it cannot be released until probably after Battle City because of spoilers. But since this month is my birth month (I'm paranoid so the date will be kept secret), I felt like I should grace you all with another chapter. The next chapter is about halfway done and should hopefully be posted soon. I'm also updating bits of my story to modernize it a bit since future chapters require it. Anyways, thank you to all who bother to read this.  
_

 ** _Disclaimer: Hmm...gift cards...books...games...Nope, I didn't receive Yu-gi-oh ownership as a present._**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 _Yugi's POV_

"YUGI! Get up and ready for school or else I'll pull out the ladle!" (1)

Blinking groggily, I lifted my head a little to see what the time that my clock on my desk read. _8:00! Did I really sleep in this late?! Why didn't I reset my alarm?!_ Jumping out of my bed, I raced around my room to do as the voice of my mother instructed. I loved my usually kind and understanding mother, but I know from prior experience to never, _ever_ , get on her bad-side. Grandpa might scare me from time to time with threats of water and extra chores and the like but that was nothing compared to the ladle. That ladle, in my mom's hands, is a deadly weapon.

As I was scrambled to collect what I needed to take my shower, I noticed that I was still in my uniform. _Was I that tired yesterday that I forgot to change into my pajamas? Yet…if I remember correctly, the last thing I can recall is walking back to class after bringing Jonouchi to the nurse. What happened? How did I even get home?_ I was terrified. I could even feel my body begin to shake uncontrollably. _What is happening to me?!_

I continued my morning routine in a daze, whilst my mind descended into a panic, constantly replaying the same distressing thoughts concerning my sanity. I was already cleaned and redressed and had begun to repack my bag when I finally broke through my stupor at the touch of a solid object that I knew wasn't a book. Blinking rapidly to try to clear my head, I glanced down to see that what I had touched was a single CD case that lay nestled among the other contents of my bag. _That's odd. I know Jonouchi promised to loan me that porno, but I don't recall him ever getting a chance to do so._ Curious, I started to inspect the disc. I felt my violet eyes widen upon seeing the name of the tape scribbled down on one of the sides. _Domino HS Bullying Exposé_ _. This…this is the video that that slimy director shot yesterday. But…but how did it end up in my backpack?!_ Baffled, I sat back on my haunches and just stared at the daunting DVD until my mother, true to her nature, threatened the use of the ladle again but with the additional threat of yanking me by the ear all the way to school if I didn't hurry up. Shaking myself to return to reality, I hid the incriminating disc under a pile of games and toys. _Never have I been more relieved that my room looks like a tornado swept through it. Just the thought of either my mother or grandpa seeing its contents makes me worry. I don't know what they'd do if they ever saw it._

Knowing all too well that my mother would make good on her threat, I grabbed my bag and ran down the stairs, nearly barreling over her on the way. "YUGI!"

At her admonishing tone, I turned around and saw her usually calm grey eyes had become a storm that even the most experienced of sailors would fall prey to. Any stranger that looked at the two of us would have trouble spotting the relationship since I resembled my grandfather more than her. Where my hair was a gravity-defying tri-colored oddity, hers was a simple ebony bob; my eyes were pools of amethyst, while hers were liquid silver that could easily harden to steel; I was imaginative and game-centric and she was serious and down-to-earth. She and grandpa say that I'm a spitting image of my father, but he has been away on business for so long that I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.

"Sorry, Okāsan!" I apologized with a hurried bow, before turning toward the kitchen to grab something quick to eat. I caught a glimpse of her eyes softening, perhaps due to the multitude of bruises that too often grace my face and body and her acknowledgement of her inability over the years to stop the torment. I spot my grandfather sitting at his usual spot, reading the newspaper while nursing a cup of coffee. Across from him, in front of my seat, is a plate with a couple pieces of toast and a bowl of cereal. I snatch a piece of toast and stuff in my mouth before whirling around to run off to school. However, my grandfather's voice stops me in my tracks.

"Yugi!" Turning around, with the toast still stuffed in my mouth, I ask him what he wants. His sagely eyes widen in horror before quickly narrowing in preparation of a reprimand. He too knows how often I've come home black and blue and being unable to properly change things. "Don't 'What, Jii-chan?' me. You need to finish eating before you run off. It's bad for the digestive system."

"But, Jii-chan," I whined, "I'm already late enough as is. I got to go. Bye!" With those final words, I raced out the door and collided hard enough with something to send me sprawling onto the ground, the toast flying out of my mouth. Some stray cat immediately nabbed it from its landing space a few meters away.

Tinkling laughter filled my ears as a pale slender hand reached down to me. Blushing, I quickly grasp the outstretched hand and pull myself to my feet, giving my thanks to my aide. "Yugi, you really need to watch where you're going. One of these days you'll ran straight into a pole or into traffic if you're not careful," Anzu chided, a soft smile gracing her face. A nervous chuckle escapes my lips as I scratch the back of my head and feel my cheeks redden even more. _Really, Yugi! You just had to run into your crush like that. This is so embarrassing!_ "Anyways, sorry about your toast, Yugi, but why were you even running in the first place?"

"Umm…well…I…uhhh…kinda…sorta…overslept," I nervously admitted, unable to even look into her eyes, and voice fading on the last word.

"Yugi! You should know better than that." An exasperated sigh left her lips, before she smiled again and quickly grasped my hand, pulling me along behind her. "No matter. Right now we need to worry about getting to school." I could swear my face was as red as a tomato as I could only stare at our clasped hands, letting Anzu drag me along. _Stay calm, Yugi, stay calm._ However, no matter what I told myself, I still felt like I was going to spontaneously combust. It wasn't until the school was in view that Anzu finally released my hand, slowing our pace down to a comfortable walk and allowing me to calm my racing heart. It was also at that time that my stomach finally decided to voice its opinion about its lack of food. "Yugi! I almost forgot that you lost your toast. Here, I'll loan you a bit of my lunch to help make up for it." Anzu began digging around in her bag and waved off all my insistences that she not bother. Finally, she found her prize and opened it to me, offering me my choice.

"Anzu, I really can't do this," I tried one last time, but all I received in return was a glare, one that seemed so much like my mother's that I wondered if all women had to take a class to be able to glare like that, silencing all my future protests. Begrudgingly, I accepted her offer and took two onigiri (2) and thanked her.

"It was nothing, Yugi. I mean it was partly my fault that you lost your breakfast anyways." She smiled for a moment, radiant as the sun, before it dimmed, a cloud concealing the light. She stopped walking, chewing nervously on her lip before she spoke again. "Yugi, I–I need to tell you that I won't be able to walk with you home after school today. Not for the rest of this week either possibly. I'm sorry, it's…just that…something came up…with my family and they need me to come home after school right away for a while. I hope you understand."

Masking my disappointment, I plastered a big, glowing smile upon my face to help ease Anzu's apparent worry. "That's okay, Anzu. I just hope everything is okay with your family. I can manage on my own. Maybe Jonouchi-kun could walk with me…" I replied, muttering the last bit to myself. Nevertheless, I saw her eyes flare in anger at the mention of his name but was quickly extinguished as she forced a smile upon her face. Despite yesterday's events, I guess she still can't seem to see past his previous mistakes and old behavior.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. You shouldn't be walking home by yourself anyways," she admitted almost forlornly. I almost argued that I had done so for years, but the despondent look in her eyes made me hold my tongue. Then, as if a switch was flicked, a genuine smile graced her face once again and her eyes glowed with a hint of teasing. "Besides, we need to start thinking about the festival that's coming up. This is our first year and we should start off our high school experience with a bang! So get to thinking, quick, because we need an awesome idea and if I'm lucky we might even get a decent spot." _That's right! Anzu is the Class B student president. Of course, she'd know about this and already be planning for it. Now just to come up with a good theme…hmm…_

Once inside, we split up at the lockers since Anzu had a meeting with the other class presidents to determine each class's location for the festival through a lottery. After I changed my shoes, I just sat there thinking to myself about possible festival ideas. _Maybe…no…wait! What about…no…hmm, this could be really hard…hmm…aha! I got it! We could do–_

Roaring laughter immediately broke me from my thoughts. Peeking around the corner of the lockers, I spotted Jonouchi and Honda strolling down the hallway, heckling like hyenas. When the two finally reached me, a switch was instantly flipped and the smile on Honda's face died, hardening his face into stone. Jonouchi, still in a jovial mood, didn't seem to notice his friend's change in demeanor, but was quickly made aware when Honda shrugged the blonde's arm off his shoulders, ignoring Jonouchi's outspoken confusion as he marched towards his shoe locker and quickly changed footwear, not bothering with the laces. He then stormed towards the classrooms without a backwards glance. Jonouchi kept calling after his friend, a visage of complete befuddlement painted across his face, until the boy finally disappeared from view. Then, furiously muttering what sounded like a few obscenities under his breath, he turned to me.

"Hey, Yugi! How are you today?"

"I'm fine, Jonouchi-kun. What about you? That blow yesterday did not look good and the nurse even had to keep you in her office!"

Rolling his eyes, he waved his hand as if to push away all my worries. "Yugi, I told you yesterday that that was nothing. I'm perfectly fine." As if to emphasize his point, he pounded his chest, face giving no indication of pain. "Besides, I only took one hit. A well-aimed hit, but even so it was only one. You, on the other hand, got hit much more than that. I'm kinda surprised you're actually fine." He winced. "Well, except for the bruises, that is. Sorry I wasn't much help there yesterday."

"I'm fine Jonouchi-kun. Everything is okay now," I reassured.

"Yeah, well…" he started before deciding to drop the topic. "Anyways…" He scanned our surroundings before pulling us deeper into the lockers area, whispering conspiratorially whilst reaching into his bag, "Since I didn't get the chance to give this to you yesterday like I promised, here you go. I will warn you that the pixels do make it hard to see anything."

The CD case holding the awaited DVD glinted in the light, alluring as it alluded to all its hidden content. My eyes were wide in excitement as I reached to take the disc. _Finally, I can – wait!_ Before I could even touch the case a pale, slender hand snatched it away. A hand that I knew all too well belonged to – "ANZU!"

"Hmm. This looks like an interesting video. You don't mind if I borrow it first, do you?" Her eyes glinted, playful but testing, seeing if I would refuse. _I have a bad feeling that she knows all too well what is on that DVD._ Sweat started to bead on my forehead as I sputtered, trying to come up with a good excuse as to why she could _not_ take the DVD. Jonouchi, on the other hand, wasn't as tongue-tied and began chasing and screaming at Anzu to give the disc back. Laughing, she ran towards the classrooms, "Come on! I'll race you to class! Winner gets the DVD!" Complementing her challenge, the warning bell rang, indicating to us all to head to class and serving as the signal for the Jonouchi-Anzu race to begin.

Knowing I wouldn't be much of a contender in that race with my abnormally short legs, I calmly walked to class. There I was greeted with a grumbling Jonouchi glaring daggers at the victorious girl. Scared to approach Anzu, knowing full-well that if she didn't know what was on that disc she soon would, I walked over to Jonouchi. He remained slouched in his desk, oblivious for a moment of my presence, before chancing a glance at me. His scowl dropped and he began to apologize and promise that he'll get the DVD back before the end of the day. Even though I was more than worried about Anzu even seeing the content of the DVD, I told him that it was fine and that I could try asking for the video later. Jonouchi tried to protest but at that moment the rest of the class started to file in, signaling the teacher's incoming entrance.

The lectures passed by in a daze and then recess was finally upon us. Many students moved to leave the classroom, but Anzu quickly blocked the exit, telling them all to return to their seats as she had an important announcement. Groans echoed throughout the room, but everyone begrudgingly reseated themselves. "As many of you know, the school's festival is almost upon us, and as such we need to come up with an awesome theme for our booth, especially since we have the best location, near the entrance. Now, if you have any ideas, raise your hand and I'll write them on the board and then vote for our favorite."

Excitement at the prospect of the festival ran through all of us and hands flew into the air all around me. Ideas ranging from fried soba to haunted mansions were voiced, creating a long, and still growing, list. Even Hanasaki, one of the other quiet and shy kids like me, had his idea of a comedy manga dojo be added to the list. Jonouchi's idea, however, was the only one that didn't even make the list as the entire female population of the class attacked him for his "real high-school girl cabaret" suggestion. When all the ideas seemed to be said and done, Anzu asked to confirm that everyone's ideas were said, giving me an encouraging look before asking for my own ideas.

"Eh…well…I do have one idea," I started sheepishly, before gathering my courage, easier with Anzu's smile radiating her faith in me, and relayed my suggestion. "How about we do games…like carnival games at an amusement park?" Silence. _Damnit! I should have just stayed quiet. They must think my idea is so stupid._

Then, to my disbelief, slowly everyone began to announce their enthusiasm to my proposal. There was so much excitement that no one felt the need to vote as it became almost unanimous that my idea was the best. I felt immense pride swelling in my chest as everyone took to my idea and the planning began with increasing vigor, thoughts of lunch and being outside escaping everyone's thoughts. Well almost everyone…I notice that Jonouchi keeps glancing at the door and other student's visible bento boxes, food clearly being the only thing on his mind now. However, it doesn't take too long before plans of doing a hit-the-bottles, target practice, and a reverse-dunking booth were made and the steps to creating the games formed. After that, we were all released, excitement still bubbling in everyone's voices as they left the classroom, Jonouchi being the first to race out to presumably sate his growing hunger. After the room vacated, I walked up to Anzu, who was busy erasing the board.

"Hey, Anzu."

"Yugi!" she exclaimed, forgetting the board and giving me one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen. "That idea of yours was so great! I just knew I was right in asking for your thoughts! You really should work on speaking up more often. You seem to have a knack for saying the best things."

"Heh…well not always," I grimace, remembering all the beatings I've received despite whatever words I might've uttered. "Anyways…Anzu, could I…you know…have that DVD back? Jii-chan is expecting me bring it to him tonight."

"Really? Why would your grandfather be expecting a video from Jonouchi?" Obvious skepticism was thoroughly coating her voice. _Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. All that careful planning during class and_ _ **this**_ _was the best excuse I could come up with?! I knew she wouldn't believe me. It's way too obvious that it's a lie._

"Well…uh…Jonouchi-kun actually borrowed it from Jii-chan and he was just giving it to me so that I could return it to him." _There._ _ **Please**_ _believe that!_

"Hmm. Well, if that's the case…" I could almost breathe a sigh of relief, but then I saw the wicked twinkle in her eyes and I just knew I was doomed. "But, I don't think your grandfather will mind too much if I just borrowed it for the night. I promise to give it to him tomorrow morning." _That's it. I'm dead. Someone dig up a grave for me, because I'll sure be needing it after she actually watches the video._

While I was thinking about my impending death, Jonouchi finally made his way back into the room. Seeing the blonde, Anzu quickly finished up her task and excused herself to get her own lunch. Despite the childish antics of this morning, there was still some tension between my two friends. Jonouchi watched her leave before ambling over to me, stuffing his face with food as he talked. "Sooooo, did ya manage to get that DVD back?" I shook my head, dread for my bleak future swallowing me. "Shit! I guess I could always try Plan B, but I'm doubtful of how well that would work. If it doesn't, I'll talk it over with Honda tonight. Maybe he might have a better idea."

Remembering my earlier conversation with Anzu, I decided to ask Jonouchi if he would be willing to walk home with me after school until Anzu can do it again. I understand Anzu's concern for me walking home with someone, knowing how I attract bullies like bees to honey, but I wish that I didn't need to merit so much concern. "I wish I could, Yugi, but I've already promised to walk home with Honda today. And if wasn't for the fact that he's being so stubborn about being near you, I would totally walk home with you. But, I promise I'll walk home with you tomorrow." I thanked him and then we segued into talking about games and the festival, Anzu eventually joining the conversation once she returned with her bento and an extra lunch from the cafeteria, offering the spare to me. I graciously accepted, albeit with a few protests of paying her back which she waved off saying that my awesome carnival idea was payment enough.

* * *

After school, I waited at the bus stop with a good handful of other students. Anzu had figured that since both of my friends were unable to walk home with me, the bus was the next safest option, and have given me no room to argue. Boy, was she so wrong. My first indication that trouble was sure to come was when I started to hear loud, obnoxious music coming from one of the upperclassmen, whose dark hair was shaped into even more of a spike than Honda's, while we all stood, waiting. Most edged as far away from him as possible, avoiding looking at him directly. I didn't get that memo, and felt a chill run down my spine when he glanced leeringly over at me. I immediately broke eye-contact, missing when he stopped and forced an unsuspecting soul into a conversation with him. Thankfully, the bus arrived soon thereafter, and we all crowded in.

My next clue that trouble awaited for me lay in the fact that the entire back of the bus was left empty. I should have just endured the pushes and shoves and the stinky armpit smells of the front of the bus, but my curiosity made me travel to the inviting seats of the back. I soon saw why the back was so empty. The upperclassman with the ear-splitting music had claimed the back, driving others away in their efforts to avoid the intolerable noise. I immediately turned to escape to the unappealing front, but the boy's voice stopped me in my tracks. That and the sudden movement of the bus forced me to grab a hold of something to avoid toppling over.

"Hey, Yugi-kun, right?" Slowly turning to face him, I shakily nod my head. "Name's Sozoji. Heard of me, right?" Another nod. Sozoji was well-known all right, just not in the way he probably assumed. He was notorious for his awful concerts, where he would force people to come and then make their ears bleed from his horrid singing, beating up anyone who refused to do as he said. My head started to scream at me to run away but before I can do anything, the guy shoved a bunch of tickets into my hand. Frightened but curious all the same, I looked at him for an explanation. "I'm hosting one of my all-night concerts this Saturday evening. How about you come to hear my wonderful voice. Also, I need you to sell those ten tickets, preferably to girls. Each one costs 2,000 yen, and if you don't sell them all then…well…" he cracked his knuckles, making the message very clear, "you know what will happen."

Satisfied with his work, Sozoji reclined back into his seat and I immediately took that opportunity to run back to the front of the bus, grateful when my stop finally came. Downtrodden, I sluggishly made my way home, giving my grandfather a fake smiled greeting before escaping to my room with words about homework needing to be done. Once inside my room, I slid down my door, letting the gravity of today's events weigh on my mind. _If Anzu doesn't kill me tomorrow, I'm sure that I will not survive past Saturday. If there ever was a time for me to have one of those random blackouts, I would surely appreciate it now just to be able to avoid all this mess._

Gathering myself together after a few moments, I moved over to my desk, pulling out some mathematics homework. _One of the few subjects I can actually manage to do decently in without help from Anzu._ Once finished with the assignment, I felt calm enough to head back downstairs to help my grandfather with the end-of-the-day shoppers. After a few minutes, the doorbell chimed, signaling the entrance of a new customer. On auto-pilot, I immediately started reciting the game shop greeting but my voice died in my throat upon seeing who was standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Yugi. We kinda need your help with something."

* * *

 _(1) I am not making up the ladle usage. She really does use it against Yugi. Check Ch. 41 "Let's Find Love"_ _  
(2) Rice balls_

 _AN: In this chapter we have four Shadow Games mentioned, two obviously foreshadowed and two hinted at if you really, really squint...WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING! UGH! Anyways...Reviews, positive and constructive, are welcome. Sorry about the cliffhanger, I hope to have the next chapter posted real soon. Also as stated in the previous chapter, if you have **ANY** ideas of a ridiculous stunt that 'Yami' could pull after meeting Kaiba, I am all ears; we still have maybe 5-6 chapters before he shows up. Thank you again and I hope you all have a nice day._


End file.
